Three major plants of the big three auto makers were hit with strikes this morning, as 12,700 workers struck over the failure to get a new contract from management. The Washington Post reports:
"The United Auto Workers union launched a historic strike Friday against all three of Detroit’s biggest automakers after its contracts expired, with the first picket lines beginning at a Ford plant in Wayne, Mich., a General Motors plant in Wentzville, Mo., and a Stellantis plant in Toledo.
The strike comes as the union and the Big Three remain far apart on wages, benefits and worker schedules after weeks of acrimonious talks. The union is demanding a wage increase of 36 percent over four years, while the carmakers have boosted their offers to between 17.5 percent and 20 percent over 4 1/2 years.
The union’s president, Shawn Fain, has called those offers inadequate after years of sharp inflation and fat corporate profits and executive pay.
'This is our generation’s defining moment,' Fain said in a Facebook Live address to union members Thursday night, less than two hours before the deadline. 'The money is there. The cause is righteous. The world is watching. And the UAW is ready to stand up.'” (our emphasis)
The auto makers stand to lose billions of dollars in the coming weeks as the strikes continue on a targeted basis. Targeting the strikes, rather than a walkout of UAW's 150,000 members at once, conserves the union's strike fund over time while still forcing plants to close. Developing story.
