DETROIT – There’s a mix of tension and hopefulness on both sides of the United Auto Workers’ auto strike as the national effort enters its fifth week.
The UAW has yet to reach a deal with any of Detroit’s Big Three automakers, though contract talks that started in July have continued since the historic strike was initiated one month ago. Union leaders and the carmakers have been critical of one another throughout the process, but both have maintained that they’re hopeful they can come to an agreement soon.
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Here’s what to know in week five of the UAW’s auto strike.
UAW’s more aggressive strike approach
The UAW announced last week that it’s ramping up its approach to its Big Three strikes and negotiations.
The UAW has taken a targeted approach to this year’s strike, singling out certain facilities instead of striking everywhere all at once. UAW President Shawn Fain has typically announced new strike locations during his Friday social media updates, which he has held each week since the strike began.
Rather than waiting until its weekly Friday updates, Fain said the union is prepared to declare new strikes “at any time,” hoping to put more pressure on automakers as talks continue. He did not announce any new strike locations last Friday, but did threaten that the union is “entering a new phase of this fight,” and that more strikes will come whenever leaders feel talks don’t progress enough.
“We’re done waiting until Fridays to escalate a strike,” Fain said. “We are prepared, at any time, to call on more locals to stand up and walk out.”
The union broke its Friday pattern last Wednesday by telling nearly 9,000 autoworkers to walk out at Ford Motor Company’s Kentucky Truck Plant. Fain said the plant -- which makes the Ford Super Duty line of pickups, Ford Expeditions and the Lincoln Navigator -- is the company’s largest plant, earning “$48,000 in revenue per minute.”
Prior to Wednesday, the union had only closed down facilities that make midsize pickup trucks, SUVs, and commercial vans, allowing the automakers to continue producing their most profitable vehicles: pickup trucks and large SUVs. Now, the union appears to be moving into bigger territory, and could declare strikes at auto facilities that have more financial impact on the Big Three, should the strike continue to expand.
General Motors avoided a large strike earlier this month at its Arlington Assembly plant in Texas -- the company’s “largest money maker” that employs over 5,000 people -- after making a major last-minute concession. Just as Fain was preparing to announce a strike there, GM agreed to include electric vehicle battery production in the UAW’s national contract, a major win for autoworkers who were concerned about their place in an EV-focused future.
The UAW leader has maintained that the union’s goal is to reach an agreement as swiftly as possible, and has insinuated that ramping up the strike approach will help them achieve that goal. Even before the strike, Fain said the UAW’s goal was “not to strike,” but that it’s being used as a necessary tool to benefit autoworkers.
Click here to see the wage increase details of GM’s latest offer.
Ford exec calls for strike’s end
Ford’s Executive Chairman Bill Ford on Monday, Oct. 16 called on the UAW to “come together” and “reach an agreement,” saying the weekslong strike is having a serious impact on the local and national economies. In a rare speech on contract talks delivered Monday, Oct. 16 at the Ford Rouge Complex in Dearborn, the executive chairman said the union should not be at odds with the company, but rather both sides should be working together to fight the “real competition.”
“The UAW leaders have called us the enemy in these negotiations, but I will never consider our employees as enemies,” Ford said Monday. “This should not be Ford vs. the UAW. It should be Ford and the UAW vs. Toyota, Honda, Tesla, and all the Chinese companies that want to enter our home market.”
As the union continues to demand a “record contract” to match the Big Three’s recent “record profits,” Bill Ford said Monday that he agrees that “our UAW colleagues deserve even more, and that’s why we’ve offered a record contract, which would make our UAW employees among the best-paid manufacturing workers in the world.” But so far, the automakers haven’t produced an offer appealing enough to union leaders.
Ford, like each of the Big Three, has made multiple offers to the UAW since talks began, but the union has rejected all offers received so far. Both sides have gotten closer on wage increases and other key benefits, with Ford agreeing to restore a cost of living allowance and eliminate wage tiers. Stellantis and GM have also gotten closer on wages, wage tiers and COLA, though GM had not agreed to either of those demands as of last week.
Still, despite progress, the UAW said last week that Ford’s latest economic offer was the same as the offer presented “weeks ago,” which is why the union declared a strike at the automaker’s Kentucky Truck Plant.
“It’s frustrating, we have been at the table every day ... working so hard to bring an equitable and fair agreement to the membership,” Fain told Local 4 last Wednesday. “They ask us to meet tonight, we went to meet, and they give us the same offer that they gave us two weeks ago -- really no progress.”
The UAW president specifically singled out Ford last week, saying the company would wait until just before the union’s weekly Friday announcements to offer a better deal and didn’t contribute much to talks during the week. Fain said they’ve “changed the rules” and that the only rule now is to “pony up.”
Still, amid the friction, Bill Ford offered an optimistic outlook on negotiations on Monday.
“I still believe in a bright future, one we can build together,” Bill Ford said. “... Let’s come together, reach an agreement, so that we can take the fight to the real competition, and let’s build a great company for years to come.”
“The Rouge is the crown jewel of a company that still believes building in America matters,” said Ford in his remarks Oct. 16, describing how his vision for an environmentally advanced plant won out over others who wanted to shut down the Rouge.
Click here to watch Bill Ford’s entire speech.
‘Competition’ rhetoric holds center stage
During his speech Monday, Bill Ford often referenced Ford Motor Co.’s need to remain competitive amid the industry’s massive shift to EVs -- a touchy subject for the UAW.
Neither Ford nor Stellantis have agreed to make any concessions regarding EVs like GM has. The Big Three are investing billions into the transition to EVs, and say that’s where their rising profits are focused -- but the UAW argues those “record profits” should also translate to better pay, benefits and job security for autoworkers amid an uncertain future.
Bill Ford expressed concern for that future Monday, his speech focusing heavily on the UAW strike’s potentially negative impact to local economies, the U.S. economy, and the American automotive industry as a whole. He said a priority of the company is to remain competitive in this evolving market, and that the strike is ultimately benefitting car companies outside the Big Three.
" ... Ford’s ability to invest in the future isn’t just a talking point -- it’s the absolute lifeblood of our company, and if we lose it, we will lose to the competition,” Bill Ford said.
The issue of staying competitive has been brought up by carmakers in response to the UAW’s aggressive list of demands that includes a significant wage increase, pension restoration, an end to wage tiers, a cost of living allowance, and more.
Last week, the UAW shot down the companies’ rhetoric on remaining competitive, arguing that the Big Three are actually in competition with: “each other over the fattest CEO paycheck,” “the consumer for the highest profit margin,” and “the workers for the lowest possible pay.” In a video posted on social media, Fain said the automakers are trying to make the UAW’s demands seem “dangerous and unrealistic,” though the companies could allegedly “double our wages, not raise car prices, and still make billions of dollars in profit.”
According to the UAW, the Big Three automakers have amassed a combined total of $21 billion in profit in the first half of 2023, and a combined $250 billion in American profits in the last 10 years. The union argues those “record” profits made in the years after the financial crisis should equal better pay for autoworkers, who they say made sacrifices to help the companies stay afloat then.
“They’re competing with their own workforce, seeing how much of the profits they can hoard before we stand up,” Fain said in the video.
Big Three layoffs
Thousands of autoworkers have been laid off by the Big Three amid this year’s strike. All three automakers have announced layoffs in a series, not all at once, citing the auto strike and its ripple effects.
The UAW argues that the Big Three has more than enough money to keep everyone on their payroll amid the strike, and that layoffs are not necessary. UAW President Shawn Fain said the companies are using layoffs to try to “put the squeeze on our members to settle for less.”
Here’s a breakdown of the number of strike-related layoffs at each car company as of Oct. 16.
Stellantis layoffs
Layoffs affected Stellantis workers at the following facilities:
- Trenton Engine: 520 workers
- Kokomo Casting & Kokomo Transmission: 750 workers
- Toledo Machining: 70 workers
- Total: 1,340
GM layoffs
Layoffs affected GM workers at the following facilities:
- Fairfax, KS Assembly: All 1,585 workers
- Lockport Components: 48 workers
- Toledo Propulsion: 426 workers
- Marion Metal: 47 workers
- Parma Metal: 130 workers
- Lansing Stamping: 70 workers
- Total: 2,306
Ford layoffs
Layoffs affected Ford workers at the following facilities:
- Michigan Assembly: 600 workers
- Lima Engine: 184 workers
- Sterling Michigan Axle: 162 workers
- Chicago Stamping: 255 workers
- Livonia Transmission: 391 workers
- Cleveland Engine: 372 workers
- Dearborn Stamping: 100 workers
- Dearborn Diversified Manufacturing: 65 workers
- Rawsonville Components: 45 workers
- Sharonville Transmission: 306 workers
- Total: 2,480
Strike locations as of Oct. 16
About 34,000 of the UAW’s 146,000 autoworkers were striking at 44 Big Three facilities as of Monday, Oct. 16.
Below is a map of the strike locations, which span across the U.S.