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Editor’s note: The Santita Jackson Show, WCPT-820 AM in Chicago, interviewed Sheilah Garland, retired National Nurses United Political Organizer about the UChicago nurses strike; and John Nichols, correspondent for The Nation and Claire McClinton, GM retiree and UAW member, about the GM strike. Below are questions addressed to Claire McClinton. To hear Santita Jackson’s full interview with all of the participants, please go to fb.com/WCPT820/videos/806805809818138/
Santita Jackson: Claire McClinton, tell us what don’t know we know about this strike.
Claire McClinton: Well, I’m retired. What is different is that in the past, GM, Ford or Chrysler would be picked as the union’s strike target. So the selected strike target would only strike selective plants within that company. Not new. This time all of GM’s North American operations walked out. This is hardball on the union side. The other thing that’s different is that the UAW made a right decision that whenever there’s a contract, that tentative agreement would be voted on before you go back to work. Conversely, management is flexing their muscles by suspending the workers healthcare and making the union pay for COBRA. So this is a very intense strike in an era of new technological changes. It’s going to impact the future of the workers in this country. It’s not just about what kind of contract workers will have. It’s about what kind of America are we going to have?
SJ: Is cutting off healthcare another way of breaking the union?
CM: Yes, it’s financial and also intimidation. But Flint, our city, is the home of the Great Sit Down Strike of ‘37 and we are not deterred! I am so proud of our membership. They are full of resolve. For alot of these young workers, this is the first time they’ve experienced this. They’re learning that if you want to win, you have to fight for your benefits and future. When the bankruptcy happened, we took losses. A two-tier wage system, the temporary hire, was unheard of before. Now, if you hire in at GM, you have no pension. Did y’all hear what I said? Not only are your wages profoundly depressed, but you have no pension and no retiree health care. Before, many workers stayed at GM for those benefits. I no longer have company-funded health care. A trust fund called VEBA was set up. I live off of it and hope it doesn’t go belly up. These are very shaky economic times. So these young people, working years as “at will” employees, are stepping up and fighting the facilities they work so hard in every day.
SJ: What do you mean that this strike is about the kind of America we’re going to have?
CM: Any worker can tell you that when you go into that factory and see the state of the art electronics, the robots and the paint shops, and know that workers used to go in there and wear big clothing and masks to protect them. Now the robots are there. So working people are really insecure by the electronics, see themselves being replaced on a daily basis, seeing these trade deals taking jobs and plant closings. And at the same time, GM is playing hardball. They are telegraphing you the message that you will be replaced by robots, that you will have depressed wages and outsourcing, and that this is the new normal you have to live with. So this is a very intense strike. It’s about what kind of future you are going to have in this brave new world of electronics?
