The UAW is scheduled to strike three auto plants, Ford, GM, and Stellantis

  • The United Auto Workers union plans to strike at three U.S. assembly plants of General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Stellantis, UAW President Sean Fine announced Thursday night.
  • The facilities are GM’s mid-duty truck and full-size truck plant in Wentzville, Missouri. Ford Ranger midsize and Bronco SUVs are manufactured in Wayne, Michigan; and the Jeep Stellantis factory in Toledo, Ohio.
  • Plans for a targeted strike are contingent on the union and automakers not reaching deals by the 11:59 p.m. deadline.

Members of the United Auto Workers union hold a rally and training sit-in near the Stellantis plant in Detroit, August 23, 2023.

Michael Wayland/CNBC

DETROIT – The United Auto Workers union plans to strike at three U.S. assembly plants of General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis, UAW President Sean Fine announced late Thursday night.

The strikes are contingent on the union and automakers not reaching deals by a deadline of 11:59 p.m. ET. People involved in the discussions told CNBC that the two sides remained far apart Thursday night and that strikes were “highly likely.” Finn also said on Wednesday that strikes were “likely.”

The facilities are GM’s mid-duty truck and full-size truck plant in Wentzville, Missouri. Ford Ranger midsize and Bronco SUVs are manufactured in Wayne, Michigan; and Stellantis’ Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator plant in Toledo, Ohio. As for Ford, Fine said only paint and final assembly workers will strike.

The selected plants produce highly profitable vehicles for automakers for which demand remains largely high. The union said about 12,700 workers — 5,800 at Stellantis, 3,600 at General Motors and 3,300 at Ford — would strike at plants in total. The UAW represents about 146,000 workers at Ford, GM and Stellantis.

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The plants were selected by the union as part of targeted strike plans initially announced Wednesday night by Fine, which had been unconventionally negotiating with all three automakers at once and was reluctant to concede much to the union’s demands.

UAW President Shawn Fain announced the strike plans in a Facebook Live address, on September 14, 2023.

Screenshot of Facebook Live

“For the first time in our history, we will be hitting the Big Three simultaneously,” Fine said just after 10 p.m. Thursday in remarks broadcast live. Facebook And YouTube. “We are using a new strategy, which is the ‘standby strike.’ We will call on selected facilities, local residents or units to stand up and strike.”

Fine referred to the union’s plans as a “stand strike,” a reference to the historic “sit-down” strikes organized by the UAW in the 1930s.

Key proposals presented by the union included 40% hourly wage increases, reducing the 32-hour workweek, returning to traditional pensions, eliminating compensation levels and restoring cost of living adjustments (COLA), among other items. On the table are including enhanced retiree benefits and enhanced vacation and family leave benefits.

stronghold, In the current situation On Thursday night, the UAW said it had submitted its “first substantive counterproposal” to four of the company’s proposals, but it “showed little movement on the union’s initial demands.”

“If implemented, the proposal would more than double Ford’s current UAW-related labor costs, which are already much higher than labor costs at Tesla, Toyota and other foreign-owned automakers in the U.S. that use labor not represented in unions,” he said. Ford said. “The union has made clear that unless we agree to its unsustainable terms, it plans to stop work at 11:59 p.m. ET.”

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Automakers have submitted standard proposals that address some of the UAW’s ambitious demands but not all of them. Specifically, the companies offered pay increases of about 20% and modified profit-sharing bonuses; and enhancing vacation and family leave, which the union found insufficient.

Targeted strikes typically focus on key factories that can then cause other factories to stop production due to parts shortages. They’re not unprecedented events, but the way Finn plans to conduct layoffs is not typical. These include launching targeted strikes on selected factories and then potentially increasing the number of strikes depending on the status of negotiations. The choice of assembly plants for such strikes is also unique.

This is a developing story. Please check back for additional details.

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