Union members from across the economy are coming to the UAW picket lines in solidarity with the strikers. Their leaders say the gains made by the UAW can benefit workers in other industries, unionised and non-unionised. A University of Toledo law professor who specialises in labour says they’re right.
“This is clearly an autoworkers’ strike, but it’s much bigger than that,” said Tim Burga, the president of the Ohio American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. “This is an all-labour strike.”
Burga, along with an estimated 50 miners from as far away as West Virginia, visited the picket lines at Stellantis’ Toledo Assembly Complex on Wednesday.
“We’re here to fight with them. We’re here to stand with them. We’re here to show the corporate people that this fight is not just with them, it’s with all of us,” said Rick Altman, vice president of United Mine Workers of American District 31.
Altman says an injustice to workers in one industry is an injustice to all. So 13 Action News asked the question: Can a win for one be a win for all?
“I mean, I think to a significant degree, yes,” said Joseph Slater, UToledo law professor.
Slater says there has been a “significant uptick” in strikes this year, and many have been successful. This momentum, he says, is inspiring workers across industries to push for better working standards.
“Part of it is just giving workers the idea that strikes can be successful,” Slater said. “Just the symbolism, if nothing else, of seeing other workers succeed makes people think, ‘Well, this can work for us.'”
Slater adds that even non-unionised workers can benefit from the gains made through strikes.
“You’ve got a car plant, for example, that’s not unionised,” Slater explains. “[If] you think there’s a risk that people in that industry will go to work for the unionised plant, the non-unionised plant will say, ‘Well, maybe we’d better raise our wages a little bit.'”
That’s why Burga says workers throughout his federation are supporting the UAW.
“This is such an important strike for all of America, for working people everywhere. This is a call for workers to show solidarity, and that’s what we’re demonstrating here today,” he said.