Current:Home > MyTargeted strikes may spread to other states and cities as midday deadline set by auto workers nears -PureWealth Academy
Targeted strikes may spread to other states and cities as midday deadline set by auto workers nears
View
Date:2025-04-14 00:30:13
The nation’s biggest automakers – and car buyers everywhere -- will learn Friday whether the United Auto Workers union will escalate its strike over a demand for higher wages, a shorter work week and other benefits.
UAW President Shawn Fain is expected to announce whether the union will expand a weeklong strike that has so far been limited to three plants – one each at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.
Fain said earlier this week he would call on workers at more plants to strike unless there was significant progress in contract negotiations with the carmakers. Bargaining continued Thursday, although neither side reported any breakthroughs, and they remained far apart on wage increases.
The strike so far involves fewer than 13,000 of the union’s 146,000 members. The companies have laid off a few thousand more, saying some factories are running short on parts because of the strike.
Still, the impact is not yet being felt on car lots around the country – it will probably take a few weeks before the strike causes a significant shortage of new vehicles, according to analysts. Prices could rise even sooner, however, if the prospect of a prolonged strike triggers panic buying.
The union is seeking pay raises of 36% over four years, an end to lower pay scales for new workers, and most boldly, a 32-hour work week for 40 hours of pay. The car companies say they can’t afford the union’s demands despite huge profits because they need to invest in the transformation to electric vehicles.
Friday’s decision is a crucial one for Fain, who won a close election in March to unseat the previous UAW president. He has followed an unusual strategy of negotiating simultaneously with all three of Detroit’s big carmakers.
Workers went on strike a week ago at three assembly plants — a Ford factory near Detroit, a GM plant outside St. Louis, and a Jeep plant owned by Stellantis in Toledo, Ohio.
In contrast, Unifor, which represents Canadian auto workers, chose a more traditional approach: It picked a target company last month, Ford, and announced a tentative agreement this week, just hours before a strike deadline. If the deal is ratified, Unifor expects that GM and Stellantis will agree to similar contracts for Canadian workers.
Tensions were high in Detroit leading up to Fain’s scheduled announcement.
The Detroit News reported Thursday that a spokesman for Fain wrote on a private group chat on X, formerly Twitter, that union negotiators aimed to inflict “recurring reputations damage and operational chaos” on the carmakers, and “if we can keep them wounded for months they don’t know what to do.”
Ford and GM seized on the messages as a sign of bad faith by the UAW.
“It’s now clear that the UAW leadership has always intended to cause months-long disruption, regardless of the harm it causes to its members and their communities,” GM said in a statement.
Ford spokesman Mark Truby called the messages “disappointing, to say the least, given what is at stake for our employees, the companies and this region.”
The UAW spokesman, Jonah Furman, did not confirm writing the messages, which were linked to the same picture as his X account, and called them “private messages” that “you shouldn’t have,” the newspaper reported.
veryGood! (375)
Related
- The Best Stocking Stuffers Under $25
- US applications for jobless benefits inch higher but remain at historically healthy levels
- How the South is trying to win the EV race
- Takeaways from AP’s reporting on an American beef trader’s links to Amazon deforestation
- Grammy nominee Teddy Swims on love, growth and embracing change
- You’re Bound 2 Laugh After Hearing Kim Kardashian's Hilarious Roast About Kanye West's Cooking Skills
- Gerry Turner explains his wild lion tattoo before 'Golden Bachelor' heads to hometowns
- Police in Bangladesh disperse garment workers protesting since the weekend to demand better wages
- Former longtime South Carolina congressman John Spratt dies at 82
- Bob Knight's death brings the reckoning of a legacy. A day we knew would come.
Ranking
- Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
- Why Olivia Rodrigo and Actor Louis Partridge Are Sparking Romance Rumors
- Disney to purchase remaining stake in Hulu for at least $8.61 billion, companies announce
- Couple exposed after decades-long ruse using stolen IDs of dead babies
- Woman dies after Singapore family of 3 gets into accident in Taiwan
- Emma Hernan and Bre Tiesi Confront Nicole Young Over Bullying Accusations in Selling Sunset Clip
- Powerball winning numbers from first drawing of November: Jackpot now at $173 million
- Tori Spelling Spotted Packing on the PDA With New Man Amid Dean McDermott Breakup
Recommendation
Meta releases AI model to enhance Metaverse experience
China and Southeast Asia nations vow to conclude a nonaggression pact faster as sea crises escalate
Khloe Kardashian Reveals She Wore Prosthetic Lips for This Look
Why Catherine Lowe Worries It's Going to Be Years Before We See The Golden Bachelorette
Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
Six things to know about the political debate around daylight saving time
In 'Priscilla,' we see what 'Elvis' left out
Biologists are keeping a close eye on a rare Mexican wolf that is wandering out of bounds