As recently as last May, then-UAW President Dennis Williams held a news conference supporting the Obama-era emissions standards: \u201cWe had an agreement during the Obama administration. All the companies agreed to it. We agreed to it. The enviros agreed to it. I don\u2019t think we should be rolling back those standards.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The UAW\u2019s report sounding the EV alarm this spring, however, cited a Ford Motor Co. investor presentation predicting a \u201c30-percent reduction in labor hours per unit compared to (gas engine) production.\u201d<\/p>\n
UAW advocacy for drivetrain regulation has taken a turn. The just-negotiated UAW-GM proposal\u00a0pledges creation of a National Committee on Advanced Technology to address coming change and devotes a section to assuring its members it will fight any job cutbacks related to a new generation of transportation:<\/p>\n
\u201cYour bargaining committee raised many concerns regarding the company\u2019s plans to increase its electric and autonomous vehicle lineup. They outlined how advanced manufacturing had already impacted the membership. As a result, the union won a commitment from the company to not only reaffirm that the introduction of new technology will not move work out of the bargaining unit, but also ensure UAW members will be able to retain the higher-skilled work associated with new technology.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schwartz, the former GM labor director,\u00a0says the union\u2019s about face on government-mandated EVs is likely due to the organization\u2019s reactive nature: \u201cThey probably looked at it from an environmental, not a labor perspective. They wanted to be a progressive organization that looks out for the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the UAW puts the brakes on electrics, however, its Democratic allies are shifting into high gear. The Green New Deal would eliminate the internal combustion engine, with Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders \u2014 who joined the picket line at GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in September \u2014\u00a0vowing a national trade-in program for EVs as well as a mandate for electric buses.<\/p>\n
Front-runner Joe Biden told a CNN climate change townhall that EVs are \u201cgoing to create so many new jobs for us. We have to …\u00a0take combustion engine vehicles off the road as rapidly as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UAW and the candidates agree that a comprehensive, government-led industrial policy is needed to manage the government\u2019s forcing of electrics\u00a0\u2014 including job training, protectionist trade policy, consumer incentives, and infrastructure investment.<\/p>\n
For automakers, the train \u2014\u00a0or\u00a0EV \u2014\u00a0has already left the station. Ford is investing $11 billion to make 40 EVs next decade, while Volkswagen AG says it will phase out gas-powered cars by 2026.<\/p>\n
An industry insider familiar with the situation says that regulation alone is behind the industry’s move to electrification. Without consumer demand, the UAW is nervous an electric future is more tenuous than the gas-powered present.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The General Motors Co. strike has united the United Auto Workers and their Democratic political allies over\u00a0demands for more pay and job security. But the walkout also has\u00a0opened a rift between the union and Democrats focused on a Green New Deal’s electric vehicle future. Long supporters of government mpg mandates to force a transition to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24321"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24321\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}