In UAW President Shawn Fain’s most recent speech, he says:
Just after we announced our tentative agreements, another company made an anouncement. This week, Toyota said they are giving across the board pay increases to production workers and skilled trades and lowering the number of years it takes for new hires to reach the maximum rate of pay. Sound familiar?
Toyota isn’t giving out raises out of the goodness of their heart. Toyota is the largest and most profitable auto company in the world. They could have just as easily raised wages a month ago – or a year ago. They did it now because the company knows that we’re coming for them.
The company knows that Toyota workers are watching – and when the time comes, Toyota workers and all non-unions workers are going to be ready to stand up.
Even though you are not yet members of our union, that pay raise that Toyota is giving you is the UAW bump. U A W, that stands for “You Are Welcome”. You are welcome to join our stand up movement.
If this is what Toyota gives you when the “Big 3” stand up and fight, imagine what you could accomplish if you join the UAW to stand up and fight for yourselves.