8:37 a.m. ET, September 16, 2023
Do you just want to catch up on the UAW strike? Here’s what you need to know:
By CNN’s Chris Isidore, Vanessa Yurkevich and Elisabeth Buchwald Striking union worker Diana Osborne holds a picket sign outside the Ford Michigan assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan, U.S., September 15, 2023. Rebecca Cook/Portal Time is up to avert a strike America’s Unionized Automakers. The United Auto Workers’ contracts expired Thursday at 11:59 p.m. ET. The contracts covered 145,000 UAW members from three companies: General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, which builds Jeep, Ram, Dodge and Chrysler vehicles for North America. Because no agreement was reached before the contract expired, the union said it had launched targeted strikes against three facilities – one at each company.
Here’s what you should know now that the strike has begun:
Where did workers quit their jobs?
UAW President Shawn Fain announced that workers at a GM plant in Wentzville, Missouri; a Stellantis plant in Toledo, Ohio; and a Ford plant in Wayne, Michigan would go on strike. The workers stopped their work there and demonstrated in front of the factories on Friday morning.
It may not take much to bring production to a virtual standstill for all companies. They operate a complex network of facilities that rely on sourcing parts from different facilities.
Slowing or halting production at a few engine or transmission plants at any company could be just as effective in halting operations as an all-out strike at all plants, industry experts say.
Key Numbers That Motivate UAW Members:
$32.32: The hourly wage for most UAW members at GM, Ford and Stellantis
$18: The starting wage of a UAW worker
$15: The starting wage for temporary workers
These wages have not been adjusted for inflation, which has risen significantly over the past two years.
Will the car manufacturers negotiate?
Based on their latest reports, Ford and GM are now offering a 20% increase over the life of the contract, and Stellantis is offering 17.5%. The union began by demanding an immediate 20% increase and four additional 5% increases over the course of a four-year contract.
GM CEO Mary Barra sent a letter to employees Thursday saying the company’s latest offer now includes a 20% raise and an immediate 10% raise. Lower-paid temporary workers would receive $20 an hour, a 20% increase from the current $16.67 an hour.
Ford CEO Jim Farley told CNN that an offer from Ford for a 20% raise over the life of the contract was the most lucrative offer the company had made to the union in its 80 years of existence. But he said it would have been prohibitive to meet the union’s demands for a nearly 40% raise along with a four-day week and other performance improvements.
Farley blamed the union for the lack of progress in negotiations. But the union accuses the companies of waiting until the end of August or beginning of September to make their first counteroffers.
Anger at Stellantis is growing:
Compared to other car manufacturers, Stellantis relies more heavily on poorly paid temporary workers. The abolition or at least restriction of the use of temporary workers is an important concern for the union.
And there’s more anger at Stellantis after the company’s former executives were caught bribing former union officials, says Art Wheaton, director of labor studies at Cornell University’s Industrial and Labor Relations School in Buffalo.
Many of the members angry about the corruption scandal that sent two new UAW presidents to prison are also angry about Stellantis.