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Shawn Fain, president of the UAW: ‘Workers realized they’ve been getting screwed for decades’
(www.theguardian.com)
He should join Sinn Fein
this post was submitted on 16 Apr 2024
269 points (98.2% liked)
Work Reform
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Fuck the UAW. They approved ending grad student strike activity at my university with only 19% approval.
That sucks. Sorry, but why are the grad students represented by UAW?
I don't know. I thought it was very odd myself.
Yeah, tbh I’d see if you can get a different union to represent you, but it doesn’t look like there’s one union specifically for grad students. (I’m assuming you’re in the US, if UAW was an option)
I graduated. I tried bringing this up, but no one seems to care that they shaft us. The university puts out a ton of propaganda about how people will be punished for strike activities, and it scares the international students into being scabs because they're scared they'll lose their visas.
Yeah, that’s a shitty situation all around. Just from what you’ve said, I blame the UAW about as much as the international students- it’d be great if the solidarity was there, but it’s natural that their priorities are elsewhere. The school is the real problem, but I definitely get how it’s hard to think so fondly of UAW after that experience.
In Star Trek, Irish reunification and the Bell Riots both occurred in 2024. I used to think that was was a coincidence, but c'mon: you can't have a guy with almost the same name as the Irish nationalist political party who's also an American labor leader without him being the thing that connects the two events somehow!
Anyway, dude's gonna have a busy rest of the year. I wish him luck!
Welp, civil war, escalating to nuclear war, starting 2026? See you all there.
Mr Fain, I’m a UAW member with a 2.5% 401k match. I’m getting a .75 cent raise in July that puts me at $12 an hour.
Please explain to me more about how I’m getting screwed.
You know unions are democracies right?
Do you need any help organizing your co-workers to put up a fight for the next contract?
I'm confused--do you think that $12/hour is a livable wage? It should be more like $25 - $30.
No, I do not – and I agree.