The striking United Auto Workers union has teamed up with an ex-assassin and rapper from Flint, Michigan, to attack the Detroit auto giant.
The protest song “Big 3” by ex-Jemini Smith, who goes by the name Gemini Ramone The OG, was used to kick off Friday’s media address from UAW President Shawn Fain — a move that may have been calculated to help Fain connect with many skin members. blacks in the 25,000-strong union currently picketing the automaker, a reporter told The Post.
In the clip, Smith — who was convicted of second-degree murder for killing 16-year-old Vartina Hamlin in 1988 and later busted with a stolen gun while on probation in 2013 — turned on the automaker, according to Michigan Live.
“Stellantis, GM and the other one is Ford, they all build cars that their workers can’t afford,” raps Smith, who is in his early 50s, in the clip.
“Make that sense because to me that’s not at all, we’re fighting to survive while they live away from pigs,” he said.
The United Auto Workers featured the “Big 3” protest song performed by convicted murderer Jemini Smith before a recent media address. Jemini Smith/FacebookSmith, who went by the name Gemini Ramone The OG, was convicted of murdering a high school student in 1988. Jemini Smith/Facebook
“Right now I’m picketing with a sign, but treating us fairly eliminates this waste of time,” rapped Smith, who hails from an auto manufacturing stronghold. “Tell Shawn Fain I really like his strategy, and tell the Big Three this never happened.”
The UAW did not immediately return the Post’s request for comment on Smith’s connection to the protest — including the appropriateness of using a convicted murderer as a spokesman.
Smith also did not immediately respond to a Post interview request on his personal Facebook profile, where he promotes his protest songs.
Members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) draw attention from the General Motors Lansing Delta Plant picket in Delta Township, Michigan US September 29, 2023. REUTERS
For the first time in the powerful union’s 88-year history, its members are simultaneously striking factories at all three major US automakers, seeking better wages and benefits.
The strike entered its third week on Friday and expanded to Ford’s Chicago assembly plant and GM’s Lansing, Mich., assembly plant, according to Fain.
About 17% of the union’s 146,000 members are now on the picket line, trying to strategically play the companies against each other.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain (center) appears at General Motors’ Lansing Delta Assembly Plant on Friday.Getty Images
Stellantis, Chrysler’s parent company, missed another elimination on Friday as it made last-minute concessions on cost-of-living allowance payments and workers’ rights to strike.
The strike began on September 15 when workers walked out of one factory from each of the Big Three.
A week later, employees at GM and Stellantis distribution facilities in 20 states followed suit. Ford was spared further upgrades until negotiations stalled.
Pickers receive $500 a week from the union, which wants to raise wages and eliminate a two-tier pay system that leaves new workers with wages significantly lower than their peers.
Smith was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison for killing Hamlin after he and two other men opened fire on more than 100 people standing outside a Flint house party, according to local outlets.
Hamlin, described as a good student and a member of the school’s track team, was not the intended target and died after being shot in the back by Smith’s .22-caliber “machine gun.”
He was eligible for parole in 2012, according to the article.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
