Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley said today that they and Senate colleagues have introduced a resolution supporting the 150,000 members of United Auto Workers bargaining for a better contract with automakers. The resolution calls on the “Big Three” automakers to negotiate in good faith and offer workers a fair contract.
UAW has around 34,000 of its members on strike from production lines and factories in Oregon and across the nation. This marks one of the largest U.S. strikes in recent history with the strike now in its fifth week.
“These workers are the backbone of the American auto industry, and the UAW is fighting for contracts that recognize their members’ hard work day in and day out,” Wyden said. “The record profits that the Big Three automakers have made in recent years have not translated to the benefit of their employees. Every worker deserves a fair shake, and that’s exactly what workers in Oregon and nationwide are working to achieve.”
“I stand firmly with the members of UAW in Oregon—and around the country—fighting against corporate greed and advocating for fair contracts,” said Senator Merkley. “As the son of a union machinist and husband to a union hospice nurse, I’ve had a front row seat to the importance unions play for workers. I stand in solidarity, and I will continue to strongly advocate for strengthened federal laws that protect every working person’s right to join a union and to negotiate safe working conditions and fair wages and benefits.”
The resolution was led by U.S. Senators Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). Alongside Wyden and Merkley, the resolution was introduced by Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.).
The text of the resolution is here.
A web version of this release is here.
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