UAW Fights Back Against Corporate Media: New Video Shows How Some in the Corporate Media Mislead the Public by Parroting Big Three Talking Points

DETROIT – On Sept. 7, the UAW released a new video that shows how some in the corporate media are parroting pro-company talking points in their reporting on negotiations between the union and the Big Three automakers.

In the video, UAW President Shawn Fain debunks a Sept. 5 NBC Nightly News story claiming that autoworkers taking action will drive car prices higher.

Fain notes that over the last four years the average price of a new car has increased by 30 percent while autoworker wages have risen only 6 percent. During that time, the Big Three have made massive profits. They made a combined $21 billion in total profits in just the first six months of this year.

“But you don’t hear the media wringing their hands over how Big Three profits are driving up the cost of cars,” Fain says in the video. “You don’t see big, splashy nightly news segments on how consumers will be impacted by companies choosing to spend billions on executive salaries, stock buybacks, and special dividends. No, you only hear these concerns when the working class stands up and demands a fair share of the value we produce.”

The Big Three CEOs averaged 40 percent raises over the last four years, and UAW members are demanding 40 percent increases over the next four years. The call for that double-digit increase comes after years of stagnant autoworker wages that were more than wiped out by inflation.

The UAW gave the Big Three its core economic demands, the Members’ Demands, more than a month ago. But only in the last week did Ford and then General Motors come back with counterproposals. In separate statements, Fain has called the Ford offer “an insult to our very worth,” and the GM proposal one that “doesn’t come close to an equitable agreement for America’s autoworkers.”

In response to GM and Stellantis dragging their feet in negotiations, the UAW on Aug. 31 filed unfair labor practice charges against both companies for bargaining in bad faith.

“Now with just days to go, the Big Three automakers are calling on the corporate media to scare the public about what could happen if autoworkers stand up for our families and our communities and walk out on strike,” Fain says.

UAW contracts with the Big Three expire at 11:59 pm on Sept. 14.

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