Stellantis files lawsuit against UAW, claiming union does not have right to authorize mid-contract strike

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CBS News

October 4, 2024 / 6:11 PM EDT


(CBS DETROIT) — Stellantis has filed a lawsuit against the United Auto Workers union, which is continuing to fight over its 2023 bargaining agreement and the UAW's threat to strike.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court Central District of California, claims that the UAW "filed sham grievances designed to justify mid-contract strikes against Stellantis that otherwise would violate [the collective bargaining agreement's] no strike clause."

Stellantis claims that the union ignored the language in Letter 311, which allows the automaker to make plans for future investments with company approval and are subject to change based on consumer demand, changes in market conditions and plant performance.

The automaker, which is the parent company of 14 brands, including Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep, is seeking a court declaration that the union "acted in bad faith" and violated the bargaining agreement.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stellantis-files-lawsuit-against-uaw/

[Stargazer99]

1. The wealthy trying to use the law to not share in the profits of employees work

[moniss]

2. There's an intriguing story

going on with the UAW right now. The previous leadership had several corrupt officials and the UAW and the Feds entered into a "monitoring" agreement to resolve things once the corrupt officials had been ousted. Then Fain assumed leadership and has had the success in negotiations that workers hadn't seen in decades. The monitor assigned is Neil Barofsky and that name might ring a bell since he was the overseer for the TARP program after the 2008 collapse. He was not without controversy as well and accusations included being to easy on the big guys like Goldman Sachs, Chase, BOA etc.

He really put his foot in it earlier this year when he forwarded to the UAW International Executive Board a letter from the ADL sent to him objecting to the UAW call for a ceasefire in Gaza. The UAW top lawyer shot back that this was way out of line and beyond the scope of the job Barofsky is tasked with. It is especially improper because some states have laws about being able to impact union dues collection by the check-off process and they also have laws about calling for divestment etc. So the union appears to be right about this being improper conduct by Barofsky and telling him so. Barofsky is a big shot DC lawyer and he knows very well that the proper response would have been to simply reply to the ADL that the questions they raised were outside the scope of his authorization and duties. But to involve himself in this was easily understood to be a "shot across the bow" to the UAW regarding it's stance on a political matter when Barofsky's duties are purely oversight of internal management of the UAW.

But it didn't end there. Shortly after Barofsky announced he was investigating Fain over claims by two people that they had been removed from their positions improperly. Shot across the bow number 2 perhaps. But it goes even deeper. Organized labor has generally been well aware of what happened to the Teamsters during their "monitored" period. There was credible suspicion that the "monitors" were in fact leaking Teamster negotiating strategies ahead of time through multiple avenues to the companies with upcoming contracts and tailoring the demands made by the monitors to the Teamsters to work to the advantage of the companies. In other words the "monitors" became the de facto control of the Teamsters in areas well beyond their mandate.

So now the Stellantis issues come up and the question becomes whether there are undercurrents and behind the scenes moves being made in retaliation for the UAW telling Barofsky, quite publicly, to go f**k himself over the ADL/Gaza Ceasefire issues. Remember that in the really big picture of things Wall Street and all of the big money boys do not want strong unions or strong leaders of those unions. Fain has shown himself to be a strong, effective leader and has brought renewed strength to the UAW. As usual in DC and the realms where the big boys play there are always several agendas being served by any one particular move.

[Cheezoholic]

3. Thank you for this summary

The Fat Cats spin machine is on high speed with this.

[moniss]

4. Yes they want to neutralize Fain without a doubt. nt