United Auto Workers expand strike, CVS walkout, Menendez indictment: 5 Things podcast

On Saturday's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Detroit Free Press Automotive Reporter Phoebe Wall Howard has the latest, after United Auto Workers announced an expanded strike. Pharmacists at Kansas City-area CVS locations stage a walkout over working conditions. USA TODAY Justice Department Correspondent Bart Jansen breaks down the indictment of Sen. Bob Menendez. The NCAA and conferences could be forced into a major NIL change as a lawsuit has been granted class-action status. Tropical Storm Ophelia nears hurricane status as it approaches North Carolina.

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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

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Taylor Wilson:

Good morning, I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know, Saturday the 23rd of September 2023. Today, the latest from an expanded auto worker strike. Plus, some CBS pharmacists stage a walkout over unsafe conditions, and we look at the indictment of Senator Bob Menendez.

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The United Auto Workers have announced an expanded strike. I spoke with Detroit Free Press Automotive Reporter, Phoebe Wall Howard, for the latest from the picket line. Phoebe, welcome to 5 Things.

Phoebe Wall Howard:

Thank you.

Taylor Wilson:

What will this next phase of the strike look like, and why are workers expanding it at this point?

Phoebe Wall Howard:

It's expected to turn a little bit ugly, based on what we're hearing on the strike lines. By ugly I mean that people all over the country outside the UAW will be feeling pain immediately. What's happened is, after one week, the UAW has decided to expand the strike because the union has said Stellantis and General Motors have failed to put forth proposed contracts that are acceptable. What this means is they called a strike on parts locations.

While your average person may not think that's a big deal, it's 13,000 workers initially, adding more than 5,000. These are the people in 20 different states who package up parts to send to auto dealers to repair your vehicle. So if you go in to get your car fixed or your truck or your Jeep, this is where the parts come from. All those locations have now been shut down as of noon Friday. 38 sites in 20 states. So this is pulling a pin on a crucial service for both auto dealers and General Motors and Stellantis customers. I like to remind people, Stellantis is Jeep, Ram, Dodge and Chrysler.

Taylor Wilson:

You mentioned GM and Stellantis. For now, the union is not expanding strike targets at Ford. What kind of progress has been made in talks with them?

Phoebe Wall Howard:

Well, here's what we don't know. The UAW has said that Ford has made great progress. We don't know if Ford has made great progress, because this is a highly strategic political campaign effectively run by the UAW. And what our sources tell us is the question is, is Ford making progress or is the UAW weaponizing one automaker to show good faith in order to strangle the other two? That's what we haven't determined yet. Ford has been more assertive about offering pay increases, benefit increases, paternity, getting rid of the tier pay, different pay for the same workers. So Ford has made significant strides, but we don't know if it's greater than originally.

Taylor Wilson:

This is just a week in and the UAW has already expanded this strike. What can we expect over the next few days and going forward?

Phoebe Wall Howard:

From the strike line, I was in different parts of Michigan, and the workers said they love the fact that President Shawn Fain is giving constant updates via Facebook Live. So what they're telling us, the UAW, is that I assume at the end of this next week we'll hear what happens if they are going to continue pulling pins or hold if they feel they're making progress. But here, after the first week, they've made a determination. I assume they'll keep the same timeline, and in one week we'll know more. This current situation is a major step and very devastating to automakers targeted.

Taylor Wilson:

Phoebe Wall Howard covers the automotive industry for the Detroit Free Press. Thank you, Phoebe.

Phoebe Wall Howard:

Thank you so much.

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Taylor Wilson:

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden will travel to Michigan on Tuesday to join workers in a show of support. His trip comes after UAW President Shawn Fain invited him to join the picket line in his remarks yesterday. You can follow along over the next few days with usatoday.com and the Detroit Free Press at freep.com.

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Nearly two dozen pharmacists at CVS locations in the Kansas City area stage a walkout this week over working conditions they say put CVS pharmacists and patients at risk. The walkout, which began Thursday, has forced at least 22 locations in the area to close. Organizers specific complaints center on staffing shortages and quotas. They say their work requirements leave them unable to safely fill and verify prescriptions, putting patients at risk of serious harm or even death. Speaking on the condition that they not be named, out of fear of retaliation, pharmacists said they initiated the walkout after a Kansas City-based manager was fired. They claim his firing came because he refused to force pharmacists to close their own stores on the weekends so they could pitch in at other short-staffed locations. A CVS Communications Director did not acknowledge the walkout when contacted by USA Today.

Meanwhile, pharmacists around the country have voiced similar concerns. In California, 91% of chain pharmacists surveyed by the State Board of Pharmacy in 2021 said they lacked the staff needed to ensure adequate patient care.

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Democratic Senator Bob Menendez has been indicted, along with his wife and three others. I caught up with USA Today Justice Department Correspondent, Bart Jansen, to put the indictment in context. Bart, thanks for hopping on.

Bart Jansen:

Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

What are they being charged with here, Bart?

Bart Jansen:

There are three federal charges in the indictment. Basically, one is conspiracy to commit bribery. One is conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, which is basically asking for money to do what he should have been doing as a public official anyway. And then the third is conspiracy to commit extortion. So basically trying to force people to give him the money. Those are the allegations. He has denied wrongdoing and said that the prosecutors don't understand the nature of a Senate office and the nature of constituent service. So he thinks they're wrong and he's going to be fighting the charges.

Taylor Wilson:

And what role does Egypt allegedly play in all this?

Bart Jansen:

Well, Menendez is the Chairman of the Senate of Foreign Relations Committee. And it's possible for Senators, when grants are being considered by the US government, to hold up those grants because of concerns about how the money may be used, or any concerns that a Senator may have. There are accusations in the indictment, both that he released sensitive information about the US government, about staffers in the US Embassy's Cairo Embassy, and also that he perhaps was dabbling in holds on military aid to Egypt, that he then released when payments were made to him.

Taylor Wilson:

And Bart, Senator Menendez was indicted before. What was he indicted for previously, and how might this case be different?

Bart Jansen:

The previous case alleging incidents about a decade ago also involved bribery allegations. In that case, he had a friend who was an eye doctor and the eye doctor provided luxury travel and campaign contributions to him. And he also advocated on behalf of things such as Medicare payments that benefited the doctor. So in that case, it was also essentially a matter of bribe. The allegation was bribery, but he was arguing that the things that he was receiving were a result of the friendship rather than his public policy advocacy. And in that case, he got a hung jury and the charges were eventually dropped so he was not convicted. So the question this time around would be to see, are the money and gifts also defensible?

What legal experts are telling me, in reading the details of this latest indictment, are that perhaps prosecutors put so much detail into it, about $480,000 found in envelopes stuffed into the pockets of his embroidered jackets and bars of gold at his home, that the details of payments made and the timing would suggest that prosecutors think they have a better case this time around. Again, he has denied wrongdoing, and so we'll have to see eventually what a jury makes of those arguments.

Taylor Wilson:

And as of now, Bart, what's this indictment mean for Menendez's future in the Senate?

Bart Jansen:

Well, he can continue to be a Senator, if he chooses, while he defends the case. But under Senate rules, he was expected, when charged with a felony, to step down from his chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And I believe late Friday afternoon that word came down, he has agreed to step down from the committee.

Taylor Wilson:

All right. Bart Jansen covers the Justice Department for USA Today. Thank you, Bart.

Bart Jansen:

Thanks for having me.

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Taylor Wilson:

A Federal District Judge yesterday granted class action status to part of an antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA and the nation's top college conferences. The part of the suit challenges the association's remaining rules about athletes ability to make money from their names, images, and likenesses, also referred to as NIL. Based on the suit's allegations and injunction against the NCAA's remaining rules about how athletes make money from NIL could create the possibility of athletes being able to get NIL money from their schools for any reason. The plaintiff's complaint alleges that even in the NCAA's current NIL environment, which has become less regulated since 2021, the NCAA has not suspended enforcement of critical aspects of its restrictions on athletes ability to make money off their likeness. You can read more with a link in today's show notes.

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Tropical Storm Ophelia strengthened to near hurricane status yesterday afternoon, swirling just off the Southeast Coast. The storm is expected to bring winds, rains, storm surge, and even possibly tornadoes to parts of the East Coast this weekend. And a hurricane watch was issued for parts of Eastern North Carolina as the storm's winds increased to 70 miles an hour. Governors of North Carolina and Virginia declared states of emergency yesterday and some schools closed early as communities braced for Ophelia's arrival. The National Hurricane Center says the storm is expected to make landfall in North Carolina this morning.

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And before we go, a reminder that 5 Things is now on YouTube. A limited number of our specials and Sunday episodes are available now as vodcasts. We have a link in today's show notes. And thanks for listening to 5 Things. Dana Taylor is in for the Sunday episode tomorrow. And I'll see you Monday with more of 5 Things from USA Today.