UAW workers struck while CEOs gained 40 percent and wages rose 6 percent.

Evidence

The United Auto Workers (UAW) strike exemplifies the changing dynamics in labor movements. It began on September 15, 2023, and lasted almost seven weeks. It was astonishing not only for the number of participants (about 150,000 from the UAW) but also for the fact that workers from the “Big Three” of the automotive sector—General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis (Fiat Chrysler)—united in the same battle. While shareholders’ wealth had risen and CEOs’ salaries had increased by 40 percent in the four years prior to the strike, employee wages had grown by only 6 percent, effectively resulting in a loss of purchasing power because of inflation. These companies have accumulated around $250 billion in profits over the past decade, bolstered by government subsidies and austerity imposed on workers. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 265

Categorization

• CANDY: The CEO-wage 40-percent-versus-6-percent gap over four years is a striking, tweetable imbalance.
• XREF: Concrete case data for the opening of the chapter — workers’ militancy contesting the austerity order.