United States Autoworkers Expand Strike to Additional Locations as Labor Talks Stall

| 29 September 2023

| Christie Anto

In a show of solidarity and determination, United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain announced the expansion of a two-week strike to include 7,000 more workers across the United States. The move comes as labor negotiations with automotive giants Ford and General Motors (GM) have failed to make significant progress. The strike, initiated earlier this month, has now drawn a total of 25,000 workers to picket lines, demanding better wages, shorter hours, and improved retirement benefits.

While addressing the situation via a video appearance, Fain emphasized that negotiations had not completely broken down. However, he expressed frustration, stating, "Sadly, despite our willingness to bargain, Ford and GM have refused to make meaningful progress at the table."

The strike expansion, effective at midday on Friday, targets Ford's Chicago assembly plant and GM's Lansing, Michigan, assembly plant. It is important to note that Jeep maker Stellantis will not be impacted by this latest development.

In an impassioned call to action, Fain urged UAW members, saying, "Let's stand up and win this thing – for ourselves, for our families, for our communities, for our country, and for our future."

The strike's ripple effect has gained national attention, with both U.S. President Joe Biden and his potential 2024 election rival, former President Donald Trump, showing support for the striking autoworkers. President Biden, speaking from a picket line outside an auto plant near Detroit, called for a "significant raise" for the employees. He acknowledged the sacrifices made by autoworkers during the 2008 financial crisis when the U.S. car manufacturers faced bankruptcy, contrasting it with their current prosperity.

The UAW's ongoing work stoppages will continue until a new contract is ratified, according to an anonymous source familiar with the situation.

Automakers have expressed concerns that the union's demands could negatively impact their profits, particularly in the face of competition from non-union manufacturers like Tesla. The companies' most recent wage offers were around 20 percent over the course of a four-year contract, which is just over half of what the union has demanded. Additional contract improvements, such as cost-of-living increases, the restoration of defined benefit pensions for newly hired workers, and an end to tiers of wages within the union, remain on the negotiating table.

Despite the challenges, some progress was reported in the talks on Thursday night, particularly in discussions with Stellantis.

Heading into Friday, approximately 12 percent of the 146,000 union members working at the Detroit Three automakers were on strike, amounting to about 18,300 UAW members. Striking workers have been receiving $500 a week from the UAW's strike fund to help sustain them during the labor dispute.

In closing, President Fain reiterated, "To be clear, negotiations haven't broken down. We're still talking with all three companies, and I'm still very hopeful that we can reach a deal." He underscored the frustration felt by autoworkers, saying, "We are fed up with corporate greed and we are fed up with corporate excess. We are fed up with breaking our bodies for companies that take more and more and give less and less."

As the strike continues to unfold, both sides of the negotiation table face mounting pressure to find common ground and end the impasse, with the livelihoods of thousands of autoworkers hanging in the balance.