UAW

Aggressive PR played a big part in the United Auto Workers’ smashing labor victory over the Big Three car companies that resulted in 25 percent pay hikes over the next four and a half years. The rank and file have yet to ratify the new contract.

The Wall Street Journal credited UAW communications specialist Jonah Furman for coordinating a publicity campaign that made union president Shawn Fain and the strike of 45K workers ubiquitous in the media.

Furman ran PR campaigns for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

He spearheaded the UAW’s take-no-prisoners social media strategy that reported on the labor negotiations and taunted the Big Three over CEO pay.

Fain said in a livestream that Ford CEO Jim Farley earned $21M last year. “We need him to do two things right now: Look in the mirror and look in Ford’s bank account.” He also noted that GM factory workers need to work years to make what CEO Mary Barra earns in a week.

Barra best summed up the effectiveness of the PR push, saying that new UAW president Fain “wants to make history for himself.”

In winning a huge pay boost for UAW, getting rid of the hated two-tier wage system and arranging for Joe Biden to be the first president to walk a picket line, Fain certainly did.

UAW leadership now awaits as the rank and file begin voting on their contract. And then Fain is on to the next battle: organizing Elon Musk’s non-union Tesla.

The “coach’s’ PR guy" is out of bounds. The spokesperson for Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville asked abortion groups to make it clear to GOP Senators opposed to his “holds” on Pentagon promotions that they risk primary challenges.

Tuberville has blocked more than 300 promotions to protest the Pentagon’s abortion leave policy.

"In my opinion it is imperative for all of the groups to make clear, in some words, that any Republican who votes for this will be primaried,” Steven Stafford wrote in an email obtained by Politico. “In my view, if enough mushy middle Republicans come out in opposition, then this is over. But they only need nine squishes. And they will get there if we don’t act.”

Stafford denies that he was threatening a primary and says the email was a personal one that Tuberville knew nothing about.

“It is not the opinion of coach; it was not on behalf of coach. He was not aware of the email, and I have apologized to him for that,” said Stafford, making a reference to his boss, the former head coach of Auburn University’s football team.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has blasted Tuberville’s holds as unprecedented, unnecessary and unsafe. “This sweeping hold is undermining America’s military readiness. It’s hindering our ability to retain our very best officers. And it’s upending the lives of far too many American military families,” he said.

Tommy may have been the toast of the gridiron but he’s out of his league on Capitol Hill.

Ukraine takes fight to Nestlé. The country’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention has branded the Swiss food giant “an international sponsor of war” for continuing to sell products and pay taxes in Russia.

NACP feels it has been hoodwinked by Nestlé. Oleksandr Novikov, NACP head, told Bloomberg his organization was under the impression that Nestlé was pulling out of Russia after it had announced the suspension of exports and imports to it.

Nestlé maintains that it only delivers essential and basic foods in Russia and has halted all non-essential imports and exports.

The company claims that it stands with the people of Ukraine and its 5,500 employees there.

It looks forward to further developing Ukraine’s agricultural sector. Post-war Ukraine will need Nestle’s investment.