UAW's Fain blames 'greed' for 'unfair' trade policies that hurt workers

Detroit — The president of the United Auto Workers told a group of foreign ambassadors Thursday that "labor is not the enemy" as he blamed "unfair" trade policies driven by "greed" for shrinking the union and causing lower standards of living.

The comments from Shawn Fain came during a panel before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation at the Westin Book Cadillac Detroit and just weeks after Fain called employers like Detroit's three automakers "the enemy" during the UAW's own bargaining convention. At Thursday's event, Fain, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai emphasized the need for "worker-centered" agreements in which all parties benefit.

"Anti-worker trade policy has been the single biggest source of damage to the working-class people in our country over the last 40 years," Fain said, highlighting the closing of General Motors Co.'s Lordstown Assembly Plant in Ohio to address overcapacity, the indefinite idling of Stellantis NV's Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois in response to the microchip shortage and electric-vehicle costs, and security products developer Master Lock Co. LLC's decision on Wednesday to shut down a Milwaukee manufacturing plant next year for the work to be dispersed at other North American and global facilities.

"None of these decisions have to do with (technology) advancements and those types of things," Fain continued. "It boils down to one thing: Corporate greed and trade policies that do not take into consideration communities and workers."

It becomes a "race to the bottom," Fain added. The loss of 1 million UAW members, leaving the union with just over 383,000 active members, was "due to trade agreements, where these companies chose to put product where they could exploit other countries' environments, they could exploit their labor standards and exploit their labor laws."

He called for reciprocity deals that make tariffs on imports into each of two countries, particularly the United States with China, equal. Redmond cited a need for enforcement measures to ensure protections for organizing, for collective bargaining, for health and safety, against discrimination, and against child and forced labor. He pointed to measures included in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement to require investigations into unfair labor practices as an example.

"We have seen workers neglected, and these good jobs were outsourced," said Redmond, whose federation of unions represents 12 million workers and who also is president of the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas. "They were offshored, and it really decimated the industrial manufacturing base and the steel industry and all of the industries in this country."

Fain added that there should be greater regulations on banks, as well. He said 26 individuals — who include Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk — represent half of the world's wealth.

"That is criminal," Fain said. "That's all it is. There is no other word for it."

After the panel, Fain also discussed concerns around the working conditions at Ultium Cells LLC, the EV battery joint venture GM has with LG Energy Solution. He's previously lambasted the company's $16.50 starting pay at its northeast Ohio plant with a seven-year progression to a top wage of around $20.

"There are chemicals right now in these battery plants that aren't regulated by OSHA," he said. "There are things that have to happen, the EPA and other means so that we understand the chemicals workers are working with. We have workers that are being exposed to chemicals and passing out. They're becoming sick. We've had a fatality at Lordstown. We've had an explosion there. We've had chemical spills where people's, the soles of his shoes were burned off. This is not just a simple thing, and people need to understand the value of these jobs and the risk of these jobs, and again we're not asking for astronomical conditions. We're asking for people's fair equal share in the process."

Ultium spokesperson Brooke Waid said in a statement that the company has discussed safety practices with the UAW, and they will establish a joint health and safety team in the plant as part of ongoing negotiations.

"As a clean energy manufacturer, safety is an overriding priority, and we are constantly driving to build a strong safety culture at Ultium Cells," Waid said in the statement. "We train and strongly encourage team members to report any safety concerns to their leadership. 

"It remains our imperative to provide a workplace that complies with all applicable occupational laws and regulations," she said. "In many cases, our standards supplement applicable legal requirements that may be more stringent than those required by law. As an example, and by design, our cell manufacturing clean rooms in the plant are among the cleanest places in the world."

Tai emphasized the Biden administration is committed to having labor represented in trade discussions.

"For too long," Tai said, "our trade policies have been focused on liberalization, efficiencies, lowering costs to the exclusion of other goals. That approach has certainly produced benefits: We've seen increases in economic activity. We're seeing growth in GDP numbers around the world. And that approach produced benefits, a lot of benefits that maybe have not trickled down broadly within our economies."

bnoble@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @BreanaCNoble