DETROIT – The president of the United Auto Workers union addressed members Friday to announce that progress had been made in negotiations with Detroit’s Big Three automakers, and that the strike would not be expanding this week.
UAW President Shawn Fain has been hosting weekly updates for members on Fridays as negotiations continue between the union and the prominent carmakers. When the UAW initiated its first-ever simultaneous strike against General Motors, Stellantis and Ford Motor Company, workers only began striking at three of their facilities. Over the last few weeks, the union first expanded the strike to include 38 GM and Stellantis parts distribution centers, and then again to include two more GM and Ford plants.
In a briefing shared live on social media at 2 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 6, Fain said the strike would not be expanded to other facilities this week as negotiations progress in the right direction. The decision to not expand the strike came after GM agreed to place their electric battery manufacturing under the national master agreement with the union, Fain said.
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The UAW president said they threatened to strike at GM’s “largest money maker” in Arlington, Texas and were prepared to announce that strike on Friday, but GM’s decision stopped the strike from expanding there. Fain called this agreement a “major breakthrough” that “dramatically changed negotiations” and the future of the union and the automotive industry. He said they had been told for months that an agreement like that wasn’t possible, “and now we’ve called their bluff.”
As of Friday, no tentative agreements had been reached with any of the Big Three automakers. Ford did provide a new offer to the union this week. GM officials said Thursday that the company is focused on achieving a “record contract and a strong future for our employees.” GM did, however, just secure a $6 billion line of credit in expectation of a long-lasting strike.
Fain said negotiations have led to an increase of pay for temporary workers -- $20 an hour at GM and Stellantis, and $23 an hour at Ford. Fain said they are still fighting for retirement security for pre- and post-2007 hires.
“We are winning. We are making progress and we are headed in the right direction. What has moved the needle is our willingness to take action, to be flexible, and to be aggressive when we have to, and to be strategic,” Fain said.
Fain said the union is still fighting for the cost of living allowance, meaningful wage increases, retirement security, to end wage tiers, and for a better work-life balance. He said there is no tentative agreement, but “we are making significant progress.” Ford and Stellantis have reportedly committed to restoring COLA, and “GM isn’t far behind.”
Watch a recording of UAW President Shawn Fain’s Oct. 6, 2023, announcement in the video player below:
UAW’s auto strike still continues
Though the UAW’s auto strike did not expand Friday, it remains ongoing as bargaining continues.
Rather than striking at every Big Three facility all at once, the union is targeting strikes at increasingly valuable locations in hopes of creating leverage with the companies. The hope, as with most strikes, is to speed up the bargaining process and to push automakers to honor the UAW’s aggressive list of demands that seeks to provide better pay and benefits to its workers.
The targeted strikes also help the union to stretch out its strike fund, which was around $825 million before the strike began. This fund helps pay members on the picket line while they’re not working.
So far, about 25,000 of the UAW’s 146,000 autoworkers were striking as of Friday. UAW President Fain has said the union will strike as long as it needs to.
“We’ve never been in this situation before, so we don’t really know what tomorrow is going to bring,” said Sue Murphy, a 27-year Ford veteran. “We’re fighting for the next generation either way. So, it’s not about, ‘Do we have a choice?’ We don’t have a choice. We’re out here for the long haul, whether we like it or not.”
Strike locations as of Friday
Here’s a map of the Big Three facilities where UAW workers were actively striking as of Friday, Oct. 6:
Here’s a list of the auto facilities where UAW workers were on strike as of Friday, Oct. 6, 2023.
GM
- Wentzville Assembly
- Davison Road Processing Center
- Flint Processing Center
- Lansing Redistribution
- Pontiac Redistribution
- Willow Run Redistribution
- Ypsilanti Processing Center
- Chicago Parts Distribution
- Cincinnati Parts Distribution
- Hudson, Wisconsin Parts Distribution
- Denver Parts Distribution
- Reno Parts Distribution Center
- Rancho Cucamonga Parts Distribution
- Fort Worth Parts Distribution
- Martinsburg, West Virginia Parts Distribution
- Jackson, Mississippi Parts Distribution
- Charlotte, North Carolina Parts Distribution
- Memphis AC Delco Parts Distribution
- Philadelphia Parts Distribution
- Lansing Delta Township plant
Stellantis
- Toledo Assembly Complex
- Centerline Packaging
- Centerline Warehouse
- Marysville
- Sherwood (Warren)
- Warren Parts
- Quality Engineering Center (Auburn Hills)
- Romulus
- Chicago
- Cleveland
- Milwaukee
- Minneapolis
- Denver
- Los Angeles
- Portland, Oregon
- Atlanta
- Winchester, Virginia
- Orlando
- Dallas
- New York
- Boston
Ford
- Michigan Assembly Plant (final assembly and paint only)
- Chicago Assembly Plant