Member Perspectives: LEO at UAW
In our Member Perspectives series, we ask our members to write about their union experiences. This installment features Matt McManus, writing about solidarity with striking UAW workers.
Matt McManus on the UAW picket line, September 2023.
Matt McManus
I never thought I’d say this, but there has probably never been a better time to join or form a union in my lifetime. In the 1990s, coming off the long crest of Reaganism, organized labor was often called a relic of an earlier era. Even the Simpsons got in, with Kent Brockman asking Homer whether unions were just a lumbering dinosaur. How times change, and the powers that be seem to know it. When Australian multi-millionaire Tim Gurner sneered at the “arrogance of workers,” and called for “pain” in the economy to remind them who works for whom, he was widely grilled across global social media. Over the past year, we’ve seen a wave of strikes receive overwhelming support and win major victories. This, of course, includes UMichigan’s own GEO union, which won the largest pay increase in the union’s history after a month’s long struggle. Americans have expressed immense enthusiasm for the SAG and WGA strikes, with 70 percent of Americans claiming they support the strikes. And of course, the UAW is on strike across the country, with solid majorities backing them and a nearly unprecedented visit from President Joe Biden in the works.
Of course, many LEO members wanted to show their union spirit and express solidarity, and many of us went to the picket lines last Saturday. It was a beautiful autumn day, falling short of perfection only because of the heavy wind. When we reached the picket lines at the Ford Factory in the late afternoon, we found the strikers in high spirits. The atmosphere was almost festive despite the serious demands; classic rock playing, popsicles, coffee, and a seemingly endless array of baked goods brought by neighbors and well-wishers. Almost every passing car honked their support, with a few excited people even going further and breaking out horns and kazoos. As the day rolled on, a steady trickle of people came to march with the strikers from all kinds of backgrounds: academics, flight attendants, and union organizers. An especially ambitious family came en masse, complete with their dog and young kids. I suppose it's important to set a good example when the children are still impressionable.
Speaking to the UAW workers, many of them felt confident that what they were doing was long overdue. One particularly fiery Ford employee was there despite two broken ribs (she still managed to put in a weekend shift). She told me she’d been working for the company for 30 years and felt she’d not been treated fairly, coming in more angry and apathetic every day. Everyone expressed a lot of gratitude for our show of support, suggesting and even insisting we take some of the bounty of food provided. I took a donut. When we left later in the evening everyone seemed invigorated by the experience, even if there was clearly a long struggle ahead. LEO members aren’t autoworkers, but we share their goal of a state and country where an honest day’s work gets you decent pay and benefits. The fact that such common sense decency has become a rarity in America and beyond shows why it's so important to show solidarity to those in the struggle, wherever they are.