(New York) The United Auto Workers (UAW) union announced Friday that the strike action initiated by automakers in mid-September was entering “a new phase,” not adding strike sites but warning that an extension could intervene “at any time”.
“Today, I am not announcing any additional work stoppages. Instead, I am announcing a new phase in the strike,” said Shawn Fain, during his weekly update on negotiations for the next collective agreements with the three major American manufacturers – “the Big Three” – Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.
Nearly 34,000 employees of the three manufacturers are now mobilized, out of their 146,000 employees employed by the UAW. Six assembly plants and 38 distribution sites are affected, in 22 states, according to the union.
“From now on, we will mobilize the factories when we need them, where we need them and with very little notice,” said Mr. Fain, accusing the three groups of “dragging things out”.
“They thought they had deciphered the rules of the game. So we are changing the rules,” he noted, referring to the pace adopted since the launch of the strike on September 15 when he announced every Friday the extension or not of the strikes. work stoppages depending on progress in negotiations.
But the union created a surprise this week by calling its 8,700 members on strike on Wednesday at the Kentucky Truck Plant (KTP), Ford’s largest plant which generates $25 billion in sales per year.
“The groups were starting to wait until Friday to make significant progress in the negotiations,” explained Shaun Fain.
Stellantis (Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, etc.) said in a statement that it was working with the UAW to “bridge gaps on issues that will bring immediate financial gains and job security while providing a bridge for the future of the group”.
“We have made progress this week,” the group said, hoping for an “agreement as soon as possible to get everyone back to work.”
On this subject, he announced the temporary layoff of 700 additional employees working for two Indiana factories whose activity depends directly on striking sites, bringing the total to more than 1,300 people. Ford and General Motors have announced similar measures.
According to Mr. Fain, Ford submitted exactly the same offer on Wednesday afternoon as two weeks earlier, “with no additional money.” Leaving the meeting, “we didn’t wait a minute […] and I called myself to tell [KTP] to walk out.”
“We’re done playing defense, we’re going on the offensive,” he warned.
Kumar Galhotra, a senior Ford executive, expressed the company’s surprise at the decision on Thursday, saying Ford was negotiating “in good faith” and had made an “incredibly positive” offer that would bring Ford staff into the top 25 percent. of the best jobs in the United States in terms of hourly wages and benefits.
Mr. Fain assured his members that the union was “in a very, very solid position” and that it had already obtained salary increases greater than those granted in 15 years.
