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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 presidents 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) 748-8000 for democrats. republicans, use (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. uaw members, (202) 748-8003. 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 ev's, that could mean fewer numbers of the uaw. if expressed concern about subsidies for the ev's 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 ev's 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. they've 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) 748-8000 for

democrats. (202) 748-8001,. independents tent others, (202) 748-8002. uaw members, (202) 748-8003. 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. let's 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 biden's 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 uaw's 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: let's 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 well-established. 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 caller's 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: let's 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 top-down, 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 uaw's 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 1970's. 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. it's 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 follow-up? 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 anti-uaw

leadership. they are anti-him. no love lost there, when he is trying to circumvent leadership of the uaw and go directly to the workers. he has bashed president biden's 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: let's 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 1990's, there were rich medical benefits that were not managed that well from a cost-containment perspective. there were independent studies in the 1990's that forecast the bankruptcies because of overly extravagant medical coverage, no deductibles, no co-pays 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 you've got the financial crisis and that environment. today, with ev's, they have the opportunity to lead in the 1990's. and of course, those ev audits for the big three, in particular gm, were killed. it is not labor's 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 co-conspirators, co-complacent 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 essentially take over gm and chrysler. they implemented a tiered pay plan where workers were getting paid at a much lower level than longtime, establish workers. that is shrunk a bit over the years but continues. the uaw wants to illuminate that. unionized workers, they feel like we are all in solidarity and should be on the same pay scale. i think that is likely to go away, because it is going to be

harder and harder for automakers to justify that, since bankruptcies are becoming more of a distant memory. host: one more observation, we touched on this, that joan in milwaukee says my father was a uaw worker. while he was grateful for the good wages and benefits, and benefits, nothing upset my parents more than the rate of the union, which ultimately destroy the industry in the u.s., which cannot be against foreign automakers. guest: there is a lot of internal bitterness against the uaw, in part because of the corruption over the last years the corruption got so bad that the federal government appointed someone to oversee the union. that is in place today. there is some bitterness there and that is partially why shawn fain has been so aggressive about trying to recapture the moral authority that the uaw lost in recent years. he is now saying i will stick

up for the average worker and we will clean house. host: you can follow nathan host: you can follow nathan >> the former capitol police chief testifies on security failures that occurred on january 6, 2021, during the attack on the u.s. capitol. he testifies before a house administration oversight subcommittee, live today beginning at 3:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3, c-span now, our free mobile video app, and online at c-span.org. >> since 1979, in partnership with the kaib industry, -- cable industry, c-span has provided complete coverage of the halls of congress, from house and senate floors to congressional hearings, party briefings and committee meetings. c-span gives you a front row seat to how issues are debated and decided with no commentary,

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