UAW’s Strike Yields Victory for “Just Transition”

FEATURING LES LEOPOLD - Unionized auto workers appear to have reached a tentative agreement with the Big Three automakers based in Detroit. After weeks of creative strategizing around strikes and setting high standards for their contract negotiations, manufacturers have agreed to many, but not all of United Auto Workers (UAW)’s demands including hefty wage increases, cost of living adjustments, and an elimination of a two-tiered hiring system. 

Part of the union’s victory includes an agreement secured with GM in early October to bring electric car battery facilities under UAW’s national contract. Labor analyst Les Leopold sees this as critical to what climate justice organizers have for years been calling a “just transition” away from fossil fuels.