DETROIT – With one week until the contract deadline, the United Auto Workers union was set to meet with General Motors on Thursday to hear the automaker’s counter offer after the union accused the company of dragging its feet amid negotiations.
UPDATE: UAW tells GM to stop wasting time after automaker’s ‘insulting’ counter proposal
UAW President Shawn Fain claims that all three of Detroit’s Big Three automakers have waited until just before the contract deadline to start bargaining seriously, despite the union sharing its list of demands weeks ago. The newly elected union president said GM, Ford Motor Company and Stellantis weren’t taking them and their demands seriously.
Auto workers have voted to authorize a strike, which leaders have threatened if the Big Three don’t reach a deal with the UAW by the Sept. 14 contract deadline. On Wednesday, Sept. 6, Fain implied that all three of the Detroit automakers face a strike if that deadline isn’t met.
So far, Fain says the union has only heard back from Ford, which recently offered a counter proposal to union demands. Fain publicly dismissed Ford’s offer, calling it insulting.
The UAW had yet to hear back from GM and Stellantis, according to Fain, who last week filed filed unfair labor practices against the two companies. UAW leaders are now expected to sit down with GM on Thursday, Sept. 7, and a response from Stellantis is reportedly expected by the end of the week.
Unlike in previous years, the UAW did not name a target among the Big Three for this year’s talks and a potential strike. Often, the union will choose a company to bargain with first and draw up a new contract, which is then used as a baseline for new contracts at the other two companies. This process is called pattern bargaining.
In 2019, the union selected GM as its target and eventually went on strike for six weeks before a deal was met. The union had extended its contracts with Ford and then-Chrysler while bargaining with and striking at GM.
But this year, the new and more aggressive President Fain has purposely decided not to name a target, instead saying that the UAW expects GM, Ford and Stellantis to bargain at the same time. The UAW has also said it does not intend to extend the Sept. 14 contract deadline, viewing it as a hard stopping point.
That deadline is now one week away.
Fain has maintained that the union’s goal is not to strike, but it will if deemed necessary. A national UAW strike at each of the Big Three simultaneously has never happened before. If auto workers strike at all three companies at once, it will be for the first time in history.
Read: UAW last went on strike in 2019: Here’s what happened, how things have changed since