Auto manufacturing workers under the United Auto Workers union in Detroit, United States have gone on strike as contract negotiations with the Big Three – General Motors, Ford and Stellantis – have stalled. The union has called for workers to walk off the job at plants of all three automakers.
A post on X (formerly Twitter) shows footage of UAW workers leaving a GM plant in Wentzville, as the contract between the UAW and the three automakers expired 11:59pm, September 14 local time.
Among the changes demanded by the union is to have a four-day work week, to clock 32 hours of work for 40 hours of pay, reported CBS News.
President of the UAW, Shawn Fain gave an address explaining the demands of the union last month. “Our members are working 60, 70, even 80 hours a week just to make ends meet. That’s not living. It’s barely surviving and it needs to stop,” Fain said in his address, according to the CBS report. The union subsequently received a proposal from Ford, which Fain said “insults our very worth.”
UAW workers are leaving General Motor’s Wentzville auto plant en masse. The strike officially began 10 minutes ago.pic.twitter.com/kWxU2t7g6N
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) September 15, 2023
Demands put forth by the UAW also included pay raises, which Fain says the Big Three manufacturers can afford as their respective CEOs saw a 40% pay increase on average over the last four years, CBS quoted Fain as saying. The union also was the restoration of cost of living adjustments to ensure the working class receives benefits needed to survive in the present economy, it added.
Fain claims that the three automakers saw a combined profit of US$21 billion (RM98.3 billion) in the first six months of 2023, and UAW wants full-time assembly plant workers at GM and Ford to get US$32.32 (RM151.27) per hour, and those at Stellantis plants to make US$31.77 (RM148.70) per hour.
The UAW president added that starting wages have decreased from when new workers made US%19.60 an hour in 2007, or US$28.96 accounting for inflation. Currently, starting wages are US$18.04 an hour, CBS wrote.
Following the start of the union workers’ strike, General Motors released a statement, as quoted by Click on Detroit.
"EVERYWHERE WE GO! PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW! WHO WE ARE! SO WE TELL THEM!" #StandUpUAW #SolidaritySeason pic.twitter.com/1TlRvlsjbw
— UAW (@UAW) September 15, 2023
“The UAW has informed GM that they are on strike at Wentzville Assembly in Missouri as of 11:59 pm. We are disappointed by the UAW leadership’s actions, despite the unprecedented economic package GM put on the table, including historic wage increases and manufacturing commitments,” the statement by GM read.
“We will continue to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible for the benefit of our team members, customers, suppliers and communities across the US. In the meantime, our priority is the safety of our workforce.”
On its contract negotiations page, GM states that its offer for this negotiation with the UAW includes a 20% wage increase over the life of the agreement, with a 10% increase in the first year; cost -of-living protection for maximum wage earners; in-progression path to maximum wages cut in half to four years, no change to healthcare premiums plus a 25% increase to retirement healthcare contributions; plus two weeks paid parental leave and five weeks of vacation.
STAND UP.#StandUpUAW pic.twitter.com/9QQ5yR5J64
— UAW (@UAW) September 13, 2023
Meanwhile, the Ford update page on its negotiations with the UAW have not shown comparable offer details as with GM, though Ford CEO Jim Farley said that UAW demands for a 40% pay hike, cut work weeks and added pension benefits could bankrupt the company, Reuters reported.
“You want us to choose bankruptcy over supporting our workers,” Farley said of the UAW proposal, adding that the automaker has not received a counter-offer. Farley said that if the UAW proposal had been in effect from 2019, the company would have lost US15 billion (RM70.2 billion) “and gone bankrupt by now,” instead of making US$30 billion (RM140.4 billion) in profits over four years, Reuters wrote.
“The average pay would be nearly $300,000 fully fringed for a four-day workweek, per employee,” said Farley to Click on Detroit, adding that this would mean UAW workers make up to six times more than fully tenured teachers, military members and firefighters, it added.
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