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**OCTOBER 27, 2023**
On the Prospect website
* David Dayen: 150 years of corporate lies
* Henry Burke and Julian Scoffield: Larry Summers' promotion of a
crypto scam
* Lee Harris: Solar as a model for sectoral bargaining
Kuttner on TAP
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**** The UAW's Amazing Win
The Ford contract has broader implications for the labor movement and
for working people.
The UAW's stunning victory with Ford, which will soon translate into
similar terms as the other two large automakers settle, is not only a
win for the union's audacious new leader Shawn Fain. It's a win for
union democracy.
Fain is already the first union leader maybe since Walter Reuther or
Jimmy Hoffa whose name is a household word. He demonstrates both how a
great union leader gives a rousing speech to rally the rank file and
devises astute tactics to outplay management and build worker
solidarity. This win will further energize a labor movement already on
the upswing.
None of this would have been possible had not the previous corruption at
the UAW led to a consent decree with the federal government in 2022
that provided, for the first time, that the union president be elected
directly by the membership. It was this victory for union democracy that
allowed rank-and-file reform caucus called United All Workers to elect a
slate of officers led by the militant Fain.
Previously, the UAW establishment, known as the Administration Caucus,
had always kept control. Its ability to trade favors with local leaders
meant that the union establishment could always pick the president. The
Administration Caucus was the successor to what was once the Reuther
Caucus but became increasingly corrupted with time.
The new Ford contract, which still has to be ratified by the membership,
ends the long era of concession bargaining. Its main features include
a 25 percent wage increase over four-and-a-half years, plus plus a COLA,
profit-sharing, and a ratification bonus. The two-tier system would be
ended. A worker's starting wage would increase by 68 percent, to more
than $28 an hour.
Interestingly, some of the terms offered by the other two automakers are
better than those in the Ford contract. GM, for instance, has offered
the union organizing rights at battery and EV plants under the master
contract. The right to strike over plant closing is also on the table at
all three companies.
By astutely playing off the automakers against each other, Fain has
created a race to the top. As the other manufacturers rush to settle
because they don't want their plants shut down while their rival Ford
operates at full production, the likelihood is that the final contracts
at each of the Big Three will include the best terms offered by any of
them.
Fain has produced more than a victory for autoworkers. The UAW has
demonstrated to the broad public what militant union leadership combined
with rank-and-file democracy and solidarity can accomplish for working
people in all occupations.
~ ROBERT KUTTNER
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Lies My Corporation Told Me
A new book lays out 150 years of corporate stooges making bogus
arguments. BY DAVID DAYEN
Will Anyone Hold Larry Summers Responsible for His Promotion of a Crypto
Scam?
The prominent centrist economist was affiliated with the disgraced
crypto firm DCG for over half a decade. BY HENRY BURKE & JULIAN
SCOFFIELD
Solar Could Become a Model for Sectoral Bargaining
A new deal between the electricians, laborers, and operating engineers
aims to set national standards for solar work. BY LEE HARRIS
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