UAW President Shawn Fain has announced that additional United Auto Workers members will go on strike this Friday if “substantial progress” is not made in negotiations between UAW representatives and automakers towards a new labor contract. The UAW is currently striking at just one facility per automaker in a new “Stand Up” strike strategy. This is the first time in which the UAW has called for a strike at all three of the Big Detroit automakers simultaneously.
UAW President Shawn Fain addresses union members
UAW President Fain announced the new strike deadline in a five-and-a-half minute video published to social media.
“We’ve been available 24/7 to bargain a deal that recognizes our members’ sacrifices and contributions to these record profits,” Fain said. “Still, the Big Three failed to get down to business.”
UAW members are currently striking at the GM Wentzville plant in Missouri, Ford’s Wayne Assembly plant in Michigan, and the Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio. Analysts expect the UAW to target high-profit facilities in subsequent strike expansions. One of these facilities may be the GM Arlington plant in Texas, which produces GM’s high-margin full-size SUV models.
The UAW’s new “Stand Up” strike strategy targets specific plants and facilities, rather than all facilities all at once. The targeted strategy is expected to provide UAW representatives with greater flexibility in negotiations.
“Just as importantly, all the rest of you stayed on the job,” Fain said in reference to those UAW members currently laboring under the expired contract. “That is the only way this strategy works. We’re going to keep hitting the company where we need to, when we need to. And we’re not going to keep waiting around forever while they drag this out.”
UAW members first went on strike last week. The new deadline for the strike expansion is noon, Friday, September 22nd.
Check out the full video below:
Among the UAW’s original demands was a 36-percent pay increase, greater job security, a four-day work week, an end to tiered employment, and more. GM’s initial counterproposal was labeled as an “insult” by Fain. Both parties have since moved in their demands, but progress is reportedly slow thus far.
Goldman Sachs estimates that at its current level, the strike at the GM and Ford facilities may end up costing the automakers between $100 million and $125 million per week. Nearly 13,000 union members across all three automakers are currently participating in the strikes. In total, there are roughly 146,000 autoworkers represented by the UAW. The UAW previously conducted a walkout at GM in 2019, during which all UAW members at GM participated. The 2019 strike lasted around six weeks.
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Comments
Extortion in progress, 32hr week 40% raise is non negotiable , there going to put that company right back where it was over 10 years ago limping along , furthermore this is going to trigger a chain of events that cant be stopped for the security of the future of these companies they are trying to compete in this world. Do they deserve a raise and some things Yes they seem like their unwilling to negotiate. If my workers did that to me I would close up shop , Im not GM either. I don’t think a plant will ever built again in this country much like you will never see a oil refinery be built or nuclear power plant built, it will be done in other places of the world that have better environments the US is problematic on all fronts.
Not to worry. The informational pickets at a handful of plants are hardly going to force GM to grant a 40% increase. When the strike fund runs out, a 4% raise is more likely.
Just like other industries in the US, the unions will destroy the auto industry in the US. Close the doors for 13 weeks and the UAW will have no funds left in their endowment and then reopen as a non-union plant, like all other plants in the US.
Mary and her merry group of EV people will Bankrupt GM and the will happen to the others. People can not afford the cars now!
Oh so relative to this article. Sarcasm intended.
John if you really understood this you would find the EV models are being forced by the government.
Mary is only doing EV cars because they will be required by 2035.
If you were paying attention she is trying to keep ICE viable as long as possible and is over seeing a new V8.
You and your Biden vote has done more for EV than Mary.
You are not like they were back then!
LOL, in the immortal words of Hans Solo in “Star Wars 1”, “shut ‘em down, shut ‘em all down!”. What a great movie. Just kidding.
Lock them out. If the UAW strikes one plant, shut down two others. Force them to deplete their strike fund and come back to the table with more reasonable asks.
If I were in charge of negotiations, I would set up a countdown board. On that board, there would be three numbers:
1. A 25% raise over 4 years
2. A $5000 ratification bonus
3. A ticker showing the company losses as a result of the strike.
As the company losses tick up in real time while the strike drags on, the 25% raise and $5000 bonus would decrease proportionately. The longer we cry about CEO pay and 4 day workweeks, the worse the contract will be. I would suggest settling before all your membership gets is a $10 Burger King gift card. This isn’t Pawn Stars, we start at the maximum offer and decrease it as you complain about it not being good enough.
Add a 4th number to your list. Projected Profit sharing. Let them watch their profit sharing amount drop each day.
Yes, agree. GM should build what they can and then close all plants.
None of these three companies are quite in a position to tell the union to go pound sand just yet, but certainly they are headed in that direction.
Probably by the time this comes up again in a few years, you’ll see at least one of them decide to carry on without any of the overpaid UAW clowns.
The big three should just close the doors until they get it figured out and I got a new truck setting on assembly line. CLOSE ALL PLANTS
Is Shawn Fain an idiot. A 32 hour work week with 40 hours of pay would cost the big 3 auto manufacturers $32,000,000 per week not to mention a 1day loss in production!!!!
Yes, he obviously is. Doesn’t understand how companies work or why CEOs get paid a lot (probably thinks they don’t have real work to do).
Don’t understand the fact that if a union is on strike then they are on strike. Not just a plant from each manufacturer. They all belong to the UAW and for that reason all plants should be down.
No one usually comes out ahead in a strike speaking from the fact that I was a union worker also.
In my opinion for what it is worth the requirement’s they want are way out of sight and would make vehicles prices unaffordable.
Their reasoning is they can strike for longer if they only shut down some plants at once as there will be more strike pay in the UAW coffers that way.
Let ‘em strike and starve.
Most of GMs small SUV models are already coming from China and will help support GM.
These people already make twice as much as a Tesla worker and Hyundai /Kia.
I cant understand why these workers if not happy dont just quit and get a higher paying job ! We all know why. Toyo and Korean car companies are laughing all the way to the bank. The one thing the fake President and demoncrats cant fake is economic reality and I fear its getting ready to hit us all right square in the jaw soon !
They are the highest paid screwdriver operators around. They just want more.
GM should shut down all its plants until UAW feels the pain….
Only after my truck is finished and delivered! 😂 It started last week or the week before.
I sure hope they don’t strike at one of the EV plants, because in a prolonged strike, it could stop production of a dozen or potentially even dozens of vehicles.
A dozen? Quite an exaggeration there! 😂