[ "It is the totally reasonable demand that autoworkers, who have
made enormous financial sacrifices over the past 40 years, finally
receive a fair share of the record-breaking profits their labor has
generated," he said.]
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‘CORPORATE MEDIA WILL ALWAYS SIDE WITH CEOS’: SANDERS RIPS
COVERAGE OF LOOMING UAW STRIKE  
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Jessica Corbett
September 12, 2023
Common Dreams
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_ "It is the totally reasonable demand that autoworkers, who have
made enormous financial sacrifices over the past 40 years, finally
receive a fair share of the record-breaking profits their labor has
generated," he said. _

Sen. Bernie Sanders,

 

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders
[[link removed]] on Tuesday
blasted corporate media coverage
[[link removed]] of United Auto
Workers' contract demands and looming strike, echoing a video released
last week by the UAW amid negotiations with vehicle manufacturers
[[link removed]] Ford,
General Motors, and Stellantis.

A short list
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media conglomerate control the vast majority "of what the American
people see, hear, and read," and that is clearly on display with the
labor conflict between the union and the "Big Three," Sanders
(I-Vt.) argued
[[link removed]] in a
statement, highlighting that "the major reasons as to why autoworkers
might go out on strike have been rarely, if ever, the focus of the
corporate media's coverage."

"In the first half of 2023, the Big Three automakers made a combined
$23 billion in profits—up 80% from the same time period last year,"
Sanders noted. "But if you've watched any corporate news coverage of
the pending strike by 150,000 autoworkers, you've heard more about the
strikes' potential negative effects on the economy and a litany of
excuses why very well-compensated CEOs just can't make a fair deal."

The chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP)
Committee continued:

You won't hear that last year the CEO of General Motors raked in about
$29 million in total compensation, the CEO of Ford made approximately
$21 million, and the CEO of Stellantis pocketed over $25 million. In
fact, over the last four years pay for those CEOs has increased by
more than 40%.

You won't hear that over the past decade these same companies made
some $250 billion in profits in North America alone.

You won't hear that the average starting wage at the Big Three today
is around $17 an hour—less than a number of nonunion auto plants
around the country—and that the top wage is $32.32 an hour.

You won't hear that, unbelievably, over the last 20 years, the average
wage for American autoworkers has decreased by 30% after adjusting for
inflation.

You won't hear that autoworkers at the Big Three are earning less
today than they did 15 years ago.

"Of course, none of this is new. The corporate media will always side
with CEOs and shareholders," he added. "Despite what you might hear in
the corporate media in the coming days, what the UAW is fighting for
is not radical. It is the totally reasonable demand that autoworkers,
who have made enormous financial sacrifices over the past 40 years,
finally receive a fair share of the record-breaking profits their
labor has generated."

Along with his statement calling out the corporate media, Sanders on
Tuesday published
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opinion piece in _The Guardian_ urging Americans to "stand in
solidarity with the UAW and create an economy that works for all, not
just the privileged few."

In the event of a strike later this week, "the UAW members will be
fighting not only for themselves but against a corporate culture of
arrogance, cruelty, and selfishness causing massive and unnecessary
pain for the majority of working families throughout the country," the
senator stressed. "Their fight against corporate greed is our fight.
Their victory will resonate all across the economy, impact millions of
workers from coast to coast and help create a more just and equitable
economy."

Sanders' remarks follow a September 7 video
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Shawn Fain spends about four minutes debunking a recent "NBC Nightly
News" story
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calling out corporate media coverage more broadly, and sharing some
facts about the industry.

"You don't see big, splashy nightly news segments on how consumers
will be impacted by companies choosing to spend billions on executive
salaries, and stock buybacks, and special dividends," Fein said. "You
only hear these concerns when the working class stands up and demands
a fair share of the value we produce."

"But the autoworkers and working people of this country know what's
really going on. We live it," he explained. "We know firsthand what
it's like not to be able to afford the cars we produce. We know what
it's like to live paycheck to paycheck while the companies we work for
make out like bandits. We know what it's like for our communities to
be decimated and our families to be torn apart by plant closures."

The UAW announced
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month that 97% of participating members at "Big Three" voted to
authorize a strike if a contract deal isn't reached by September 14.

_Jessica Corbett is a senior editor and staff writer for Common
Dreams._

* UAW
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* corporate media
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* Media Bias
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* Bernie Sanders
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