Current:Home > MarketsUAW once again expands its historic strike, hitting two of the Big 3 automakers-InfoLens
UAW once again expands its historic strike, hitting two of the Big 3 automakers
View Date:2024-12-23 15:03:58
The United Auto Workers is expanding its historic strike against General Motors and Ford by adding two additional assembly plants, ramping up pressure on the companies to come to a new contract deal.
Workers at Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant and GM's Lansing-Delta Assembly Plant are set to walk off their jobs at noon, barring any surprise negotiating moves from the targeted automakers.
Surprise moves are not out of the question. The announcement of strike targets by UAW president Shawn Fain was delayed by nearly half an hour — because, Fain said, just "moments before the broadcast" Stellantis made a significant offer that persuaded the union to spare the company from the strike expansion.
Ford's Chicago plant builds the Ford Explorer, the Lincoln Aviator and police vehicles, while GM's Lansing-Delta plant assembles the Buick Enclave and Chevrolet Traverse. A stamping plant at Lansing will not be shut down.
The plants employ around 7,000 people, which would bring the total number of striking workers to around 25,000.
The automakers' most profitable vehicles, full-size pickup trucks, continue to be unaffected, and the plants that would have the biggest ripple effects on supply chains are also not yet targets for work stoppages.
An unprecedented and unusual strike action
The UAW went out on strike against Ford, GM and Stellantis two weeks ago, the first time in the union's history it targeted all three companies at once.
In another unusual move, the strike started small – just three assembly plants, leaving most of the automakers' production untouched.
A week later, the union expanded the strike to the parts distribution centers of GM and Stellantis – but not Ford, citing significant concessions Ford had been willing to make at the bargaining table.
The strategy, which the UAW describes as a "stand-up strike," is intended to ramp up pressure on the automakers gradually, instead of having all of the nearly 150,000 UAW auto workers walk off at once.
The year of labor
The UAW's strike comes at a time of heightened union activity across the U.S.. with some workers winning big new contracts, including UPS drivers and airline pilots.
Hollywood actors are also currently on strike, while Las Vegas hospitality workers and Kaiser Permanent health care workers are threatening to walk off their jobs.
The UAW is demanding substantially higher pay and benefits, arguing they gave up a lot of concessions to help keep automakers afloat before and during the 2008 financial crisis. The Big Three companies have argued that meeting the union's demands would jeopardize the investments they need to transition to electric vehicles and make it impossible to compete with non-union rivals.
The UAW's strike, centered in the pivotal swing state of Michigan, is also a political flash point. President Biden made an unprecedented visit to the picket line on Tuesday, endorsing the union's demands, including their push for a 40% raise over the next four years.
Meanwhile former president and Republican front-runner Donald Trump spoke at a non-union auto plant on Wednesday, where he criticized the transition to electric vehicles.
The UAW supports electric vehicles, while demanding more requirements for EVs and their components to be built in the U.S. with unionized labor.
veryGood! (17)
Related
- Maine elections chief who drew Trump’s ire narrates House tabulations in livestream
- Kohl’s unveils Black Friday plans: Here’s when customers can expect deals
- A list of mass killings in the United States this year
- Messi, Inter Miami 'keeping calm' before decisive MLS playoff game vs. Atlanta United
- Jennifer Hudson, Kylie Minogue and Billy Porter to perform at Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade
- 'I hope nobody got killed': Watch as boat flies through air at dock in Key Largo, Florida
- Arizona regulators fine natural gas utility $2 million over defective piping
- 3 arrested on charges of elder abuse, Medicaid fraud in separate Arkansas cases
- ‘Heretic’ and Hugh Grant debut with $11 million, but ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ tops box office again
- Phoenix Suns' Kevin Durant out at least two weeks with left calf strain
Ranking
- Video shows masked man’s apparent attempt to kidnap child in NYC; suspect arrested
- California Gov. Newsom fined over delays in reporting charitable donations
- No. 4 Miami upset by Georgia Tech in loss that shakes up College Football Playoff race
- FEMA: Worker fired after directing workers to avoid helping hurricane survivors who supported Trump
- How Saturday Night Live Reacted to Donald Trump’s Win Over Kamala Harris
- Board approves Arkansas site for planned 3,000-inmate prison despite objections
- Will Nico Collins play Week 10? Latest updates as Texans WR returns to practice
- How many points did Bronny James score tonight in G League debut?
Recommendation
-
Barbora Krejcikova calls out 'unprofessional' remarks about her appearance
-
DOJ files lawsuit against Mississippi State Senate for severely underpaying Black staffer
-
Zoë Kravitz Joins Taylor Swift for Stylish NYC Dinner After Channing Tatum Split
-
Kentucky officer who fired pepper rounds at a TV crew during 2020 protests reprimanded
-
'Squid Game' creator lost '8 or 9' teeth making Season 1, explains Season 2 twist
-
How many points did Cooper Flagg score tonight? Freshman gets double-double despite cramps
-
Dr. Phil Alum Bhad Bhabie Says She's Taking Cancer Medicine Amid Recent Weight Loss
-
Pretty Little Liars' Brant Daugherty Reveals Which NSFW Movie He Hopes His Kids Don't See