(New York) The strike extended Friday at American automakers General Motors and Stellantis, due to lack of progress in union negotiations, unlike Ford where “real progress” was made, and President Joe Biden was invited to the picket lines.
Shawn Fain, president of the powerful United Auto Workers union for just a few months, announced that GM and Stellantis’ 38 parts distribution centers were being called to stop work as of noon Friday.
“As we have been saying for weeks, we are not going to wait forever to obtain fair contracts from the Big Three”, nickname of the three major American manufacturers, he said in a video broadcast on social networks.
These sites, located in 20 states in the United States, employ around 5,600 UAW members out of the 146,000 working for the three giants in Detroit (Michigan).
The three factories on strike since September 15, when collective agreements expired without agreement for the next ones, will remain on strike, Mr. Fain said.
These three sites — one for each of the Big Three manufacturers — employ some 12,700 UAW members.
This is the first strike affecting all three groups at the same time.
On the personnel side, several hundred employees affected by the lack of activity due to the walkouts of the first week have already been temporarily dismissed, without being entitled to unemployment benefits.
And the strikers only get $500 a week from the union welfare fund instead of their regular pay.
Regarding Ford, Shawn Fain clarified that there had been “movement”, but that “serious problems” persisted.
According to him, the manufacturer notably agreed to reinstate measures linked to the cost of living removed in 2009, in the wake of the financial crisis. He also agreed to review the profit sharing system and the right to strike in the event of factory closure.
“But we are not finished with Ford,” argued the trade unionist, a former electrician at Stellantis, recognizing however that Ford displayed a “serious desire to reach an agreement”.
The manufacturer reacted immediately in a press release, highlighting negotiations “subject by subject”.
“We still have work ahead of us before we get an agreement,” he stressed.
Furthermore, Mr. Fain invited US President Joe Biden – who has supported the strikers on several occasions in recent weeks – to go further by joining the strike pickets.
“We invite and encourage anyone supporting our cause to join us on the picket lines, friends and family, all the way up to the President of the United States,” Fain said.
Mr. Biden notably pleaded for a “fair” sharing of “record profits”. And he said he was “proud” Wednesday that his government “has been called the most pro-union administration in American history.”
He wore a red tie to the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week in solidarity with the strikers, the White House said.
The union is demanding in particular a salary increase of 40% over four years, corresponding to that enjoyed by group leaders over the last four years.
He also calls for the end of the different salary scales and benefits, an adjustment linked to the cost of living in a context of inflation or even better social security coverage for retirees.
Around 11:30 a.m. ET, Ford shares were up 2.75% at $12.53, Stellantis shares were up 0.85% at $19.50 and GM shares were up 0.67%. at $32.93.
The intensification of the auto workers’ strike in the United States is expected to impact Canadian parts producers.
AutoForecast Solutions vice president of global vehicle forecasting Sam Fiorani says he expects Canadian parts suppliers to be directly or indirectly impacted by any closures, whether they be assembly plants or parts distribution centers.
Canadian companies operating in the United States have already been affected by the strike. Magna International notably confirmed that it had temporarily laid off approximately 650 employees at a seat producer which supplies one of the affected factories.
Ford was spared from the extension of the strike in the United States. UAW President Shawn Fain said the union made progress this week in negotiations with the manufacturer.
In Canada, Ford avoided a strike by reaching a tentative agreement with Unifor on Tuesday that members will vote on this weekend.
