By Ryan Felton
NEW YORK (Dow Jones) – The head of the US auto union United Auto Workers (UAW), Shawn Fain, sees progress in collective bargaining with the three major automakers in Detroit. But he is calling on the car companies to do more and has threatened to extend the union’s strike, which has been going on for six weeks.
General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler parent company Stellantis have each offered 23 percent pay increases to workers over more than four years, Fain said Friday during a livestreamed speech to union members. That would mean a record contract for these workers, but Fain says companies still have room to increase their offers.
“These extremely profitable companies have more to offer,” Fain said.
Fain also said he has heard calls from some members to put a proposed agreement to a vote. Workers have the final say, but union leadership will not yet submit a tentative agreement for a vote, Fain said.
“There’s more to gain,” Fain said.
The 88-year-old union is striking all three Detroit automakers simultaneously for the first time in its history. About a fifth of the companies’ 146,000 unionized workers are on strike at six factories and dozens of parts distribution centers.
Since the work stoppages began in mid-September, the strike has brought planned production of about 145,000 vehicles to a standstill, Deutsche Bank estimated in a research note on Friday. This also includes effects on production in the factories that are not on strike. The strike cost GM and Ford around $766 million each in operating profit, and Stellantis around $384 million.
According to industry analyst Cox Automotive, the work stoppages are currently causing lost production of about 43,000 vehicles per week, or about 30 percent of Detroit companies’ summer output.
Contact the author: [email protected]
DJG/DJN/uxd
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 21, 2023 08:43 ET (12:43 GMT)
Selected lever products on Ford Motor
With knock-outs, speculative investors can participate disproportionately in price movements. Simply select the lever you want and we will show you suitable open-end products on Ford Motor
The leverage must be between 2 and 20
Advertising