Hearing at 9 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan, cspan now, our free mobile video app, or online at cspan. Org. Cspan is your unfiltered view of government. Were funded by these Television Companies and more. Including mediacom. At mediacom, we believe whether you live here or here or anywhere, you should have access to fast, reliable internet. Thats why were leading the way in taking you to 10gsks. Mediacom supports cspan as a public service, along with these other levision providers. Giving you a front row seat to democracy. N bomey is with us. He is this this reporter and axios coauthored. He is here with us to talk about the United Auto Workers to strike, entering day 5. Welcome. As the strike continues in detroit, when is the latest on negotiations . Guest they are still far apart. The uaw last nighteaned to expand the strike on friday if they do not make serious ss with ford, general motors, and stellantis. District started friday. The uaw is asking for a wage increase of 36 . Automakers is only offered about 21 . The uaw once traditional pensions, Retiree Health air and a host of other thing. The automakers are not really willing to budge. It feels like we could be headed toward an expansion of the strike later this week. Host we say expansion of the strike, this is been termed a standup strike. Tell us how this strike is different from others. Guest the best way to think of it is as a targeted strike. They have selected one plant in each automaker to strike. This is unusual for multiple reasons. For starters, the uaw has historically selected one automaker to strike. In train 19, they decided to strike at gm. They reached a deal there and use that to bargain with the other automakers. In this case, they decided to strike all three but only pick one plant to start. The president of the uaw has said that if negotiations continue to not reach the progress he believes is necessary, they will expand the strike to other plants, possibly all the factories in the u. S. Run by uaw workers. Host what should we know about sean fain . How long has he been uaw president . Guest he was only elected as president earlier this year. He is trying to make his mark. He understands that workers have been looking for progress on Compensation Benefits for years and the uaw has gone through a very difficult period. They have struggled with corruption, federal charges. The last couple of uaw president s are in prison because of accusations against the union. He is trying to regain the moral authority that the union lost over the last couple of years and show his numbers he is fighting for them. That is the context. What he is doing is putting the focus on the automakers and saying they have had progress over the last several years and they can afford to deliver some of that back to workers. Host give us an idea of the potential Economic Impact of a strike, if indeed it is expanded and more plants are added the three currently on strike. Guest right now it is somewhat limited because it is just the three. It will affect the ford bronco and the jeep by the acre gladiator. These are important to the automakers but not making all their money. If the uaw were to strike out more critical plants, like the river rouge plant in michigan where ford makes the ford f1 50. That is the most profitable vehicle that if they were to hit that plant, you would see an escalation in tension. They get to all plants, this could have a devastating effect on the midwest, likely a recession, possibly triggering substantial damage to the economy. We are not there yet, but it is a threat the uaw has made. Host nathan bomey has been covering the uaw strike. Would love to hear from you. Lines are 202 7488000 for democrats. Republicans, use 202 7488001. Independents, 202 7488002. Uaw members, 202 7488003. Nathan bomey, you have a piece in axios recently about how ev worries our helping to fuel the strike. Tell us about the role of Battery Manufacturers and the consideration of what the uaw is asking for. Guest the transition to electric vehicles is a centerpiece of this debate. Electric vehicles do not require as many workers to make as your traditional gas engine car. That means the uaw is concerned about the transition. If zero workers are required to build evs, that could mean fewer numbers of the uaw. If expressed concern about subsidies for the evs in the handling of the transition by the automakers. They are in favor of the transition but they want it to be equitable end by unionized workers. The problem with the automakers is that all other evs made by other companies are made by nonUnion Workers. That includes tesla. Tessa already has a significant weight advantage on gm, ford, and stilettos. The only question is how much wider is that gap owing to be after negotiations . Host is the uaw hoping to make inroads into those battery plants, say in states that have right to work laws, like georgia or kentucky, where those battery plants are opening up, big battery plants . Guest i think they have a dream of doing that someday. Theyve not had much success in the south. Look at the volkswagen plant in tennessee and the nissan plant. They failed to organize those plans over the years. I think they have a better shot of going after tesla. The plant in california used to be organized when it was agm and toyota plant, before tesla acquires it. There is a history of unionization at that country. The may w went after tesla several years ago and failed to and i sat plant. But now tesla has become a more mature company. Could the uaw go after tesla . As possible, but right now they are focused on getting a deal at the detroit three. Host 202 7488000 for democrats. 202 7488001,. Independents tent others, 202 7488002. Uaw members, 202 7488003. I wanted to play the cummins on friday from joe biden. I do not think we have heard from him on the strike since then, but these were his initial comments as a straight got underway. We will hear your response after we hear from president biden. Pres. Biden after negotiations broke down, the uaw announced the strike. Lets be clear. No one wants a strike, but i respected were kirks right workers rights to use their options under collective bargaining and i respected their frustration. They do so much to keep the industry alive. Workers deserve a fair share of the benefits they create for an enterprise. I do appreciate that the parties have been working around the clock. When i first called them on the first day of negotiations, i said, stay at the table as long as you cap. Try to work this out. The companies have made some significant offers, but i believe this should go further. Record corporate profits should mean racket back hurt contracts should mean record contacts. Record corporate contracts that profits should be shared by record contacts. We need labor agreements for the future. Is my hope that the parties can return to the negotiation table. Host the president at the end in favor of a better deal for uaw workers. Guest those were fascinating remarks. He told the line. The is in a difficult position. On the one side, he has the Progressive Left that once more electric the occult. On the other side, he has belabored left wanting better compensation. These are both priorities for him. I think this is a difficult position for him to be in. He is prounion. He wants record contacts. There is not much risk of that not happening. These will be record contracts in all likelihood. There is one phrase in that speech that stood out to me. He says the companies have made significant offers. Not long after that speech, they said the white house is afraid. Not sure what that means, but the uaw is not really embracing joe bidens role in this process. They continued to say they are fighting for their workers and will stand up to anybody in their way. Host he says nobody wants a strike but now they have got one. This administration have any ongoing connection with the uaw or the automakers as negotiations . Guest the president dispatched his labor secretary and economic advisor. They are on the ground but not brokering the talks. They are observers. The president said they are there, able to provide help if needed. I do not think that will plate much of a role in the outcome. I think that the president wants to get the uaws endorsement but surprisingly the uaw has withheld that endorsement. This is historically something that a democrat president could assume was coming. That is not the case anymore. You need to look at what has happened to the uaw and the way membership has changed in recent years. In 2016 and 2020, about one third of uaw members voted for donald trump. This is that an organization that is going to endorse President Trump. That will not happen. They issued a statement bashing President Trump. But this is the union that is starting to question where is loyalties lie. Host lets go to our line for Union Members. Bill is retired, calling from delaware. Caller let me tell you something. They are going to go too far. When time, we at one time, we had almost one million workers. We are down to 145,000. Keep asking for raises. He will put yourselves out of work. That is just the way it is going to be. Host how long did you work as a uaw member . Caller 30 years. We had two plants in delaware. Joe biden and chris coons did not doothi. They did not help. Not believe joe biden about being prounion. Guest interesting point. Uaw compensation by all accounts did contribute to the bankruptcies of gm and chrysler in 2008 and 2009. That is wellestablished. The uaw made concessions and gave back some benefits. I think in the tents and sent, lightly w compensation has been affordable and has contributed to automakers contracts. But the callers concern is appropriate. If you talk if composition is way out of whack, that would be bad for the future jobs. But the only question is where is the middle ground . How much is too much . We will see whether the automakers and uaw and reach that middle ground. Host lets hear from gabe from michigan, independent line. Caller this is been going on for years, who is getting more . If they just created a tier, is the topdown, whatever the highest level gets, that percentage is balanced out with the Union Members. What are Union Members get in terms of compensation and retirement plans and so forth, a percentage of that can only be equal for the ceos. It is a balance. You want more, the other side gets more if there is a problem with the cars that goes against union moneys. If there is a crappy design and people do not buy it, that goes against the ceo. They each share of problems, each share benefits. They could be done with this once and for all gate is stable balance between the two. Create a stable balance between the two. The only people who suffer are the workers. In the time they struck, it was always in profitable time spent annexing you know, we are close to bankruptcy. My dad was close to struggling all the time. Whenever the overtime was about to be there, that is when they struck guest it is interesting. Over time, the uaws deals have changed to include a percentage of the profit. Since bankruptcies in 2009, uaw members get Profit Sharing caps at ford, stellantis, and gm. Those are a percentage of the north american profits for the automakers, which happens to be where they make most of their money. What you have seen at gm and ford is Profit Sharing checks to the order of 7,000 to 10,000 at the end of the year. That is a nice boost for Union Members. It reflects is the company does well, then they do well. But when the uaw wants instead it is that ceos are making too much. Their bonuses and pay have outstripped that of the average worker. Host our retired uaw worker from delaware said membership would been up to one million. How have automation and the line itself c over the years . Guest it is dramatically more automated. When i was a reporter in michigan, the plant in the ypsilanti area had 14,000 workers in the 1970s. When it closed in 2009, i think it had 1000 or 2000 people. That gives you a sense of automation and decline of sales. Automation has been a big factor. To st. Louis, john is on the democrat line. Caller two thoughts one is where is the Profit Sharing . You would think it would have happened at the same time with the managers bonuses. Number two, donald trump is talking to the uaw on the 27th. Its trumpet extending the strike is trump extending the strike or looking for a win where he talks to them and they get Profit Sharing and the strike is over . Host john is referring to reports this morning that former President Trump will be heading to detroit to speak to Union Workers on september 27. Nathan bomey, your followup . Guest i do not think President Trump has information and status on the talks. They could reach a deal before he comes, but i would despise at this point. But what i think would be surprised at this point. But what i think present have is trying to do is connect with workers who voted for him. About one third of uaw members voted for donald trump in 2016 and 2020. He has a good base of support there, but he is antiuaw leadership. They are antihim. No love lost there, when he is trying to circumvent leadership of the uaw and go directly to the workers. He has bashed president bidens ev agenda. He will thoroughly workers and that that agenda is hurting their jobs. That is up for debate but that will be the message. Host that seems to be an unusual first. Some states are benefiting from that ev agenda. Even several red states have battery plants being built. Guest absolutely. And there is a lot of battery and ev manufacturing in the midwest. But i think the uaw is concerned about the advent of these joint venture operations between a Battery Company and in automaker, where they may not be unionized. For example, in ohio, gm has a factory that uaw wants to unionize, but the point is that ev jobs for the future will be different in some respect. Uaw wants to make sure that those folks are in the fall. Host lets hear from mark in maryland, independent line. Caller morning. A couple of comments about the prior bankruptcies of the automakers in the 2000 and teens in the 1990s, there were rich medical benefits that were not managed that well from a costcontainment perspective. There were independent studies in the 1990s that forecast the bankruptcies because of overly extravagant medical coverage, no deductibles, no copays and improper alignments. Composition might have been reasonable but the rest of the benefits were pretty high. They were fine but not managed well. When you combine that was product quality, Product Reliability issues, it is tough to deal with those factors when youve got the financial crisis and that environment. Today, with evs, they have the opportunity to lead in the 1990s. And of course, those ev audits for the big three, in particular gm, were killed. It is not labors fault. That is an executive management problem and an execution problem. Better management all around is needed, combined with more consistent products quality that is leading edge, not following edge. Host thanks, mark. Guest Vehicle Quality has improved dramatically since the bankruptcies. You are right at the automakers really fell down on the job in the lead up to those bankruptcies in the fact that people did not want to buy those vehicles. They did not necessarily have the kinds of vehicles people wanted, but as it relates to the automakers and who deserves blame for the financial crisis, the great auto journalist once said that the uaw and the automakers were sort of coconspirators, cocomplacent in the sense that they were arguing and better with each other at the same time. They did not see toyota coming down the road and that it was going to be a threat. They both deserve some blame for the crash of the companies. I got the bailout in 2009 and the companies are in better shape now. The question is how do you surely well . Host tim from california is a retired postal worker. Caller first, i support the uaw workers 100 . In 200 2009, i do not think there was an industry or aan that theot othe great economic fall. Reside in the Postal Service we saw it in the Postal Service. Every time a Company Makes record profits, usually it is because unions have three or four tears of workers. It is one of the biggest complaints that the uaw is talking about we see it in the Postal Service and unions like the uaw. Those tears make it hard to work alongside coworkers that have a decent retirement, Decent Health plan. That is one of the biggest things they are fighting for. When the union in 2008 and 2009 give up sunlight, and the workers took it, and we the companies out. But when profits are 365 more than the median wage, we as workers are standing up. If it is not uaw, tesla will become union. If starbucks and other places are fighting for a union so will they. I hope they win and i pray that our government stays out of it. They have their own election time. None of them are honestly thinking about the workers. We workers have to stand together and think about ourselves. We will win should be our same. Host nathan bomey . Guest it is interesting. I think the uaw is primarily focused on past products the automakers have made. Automakers are focused on future profits. That is where the tension is. The uaw says you made profits. Pass that on. The automakers are concerned that Going Forward they will not be that profitable because they will not be able to pay for labor costs and because electric vehicles are coming in the need to make those at a race people can afford. Right now, most electric vehicles are not afforded. That is the tension. The question is will they be able to keep up with tesla . Tesla is the leader in the clubhouse. They have got a major cost advantage right now. Will the uaw be able to succeed in getting in there . It is possible but it will take years. Host steve wants you to explain tier pay. Guest automakers after the two thousand nine bankruptcies implemented a plan partially negotiated by the obama administration, which have the Auto Task Force<