Automakers, UAW react as historic strike begins

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - United Auto Workers (UAW) union workers are on strike against Michigan’s big three automakers—General Motors (GM), Ford and Stellantis.

UAW President Shawn Fain said the union is ready for this strike to last as long as it takes for a deal to be reached.

This is the first time in history that the UAW is striking against all three companies at the same time.

In Mid-Michigan, local UAW workers will remain working under an expired contract. Meanwhile, across the nation, strikes are beginning. In Michigan, workers in Wayne County are on strike at the Ford Assembly plant. They are also striking at the GM plant in Wentzville, Mo., and a Stellantis plant in Toledo, Ohio. Workers at all three plants are off the clock.

97 percent of the UAW’s 146,000 workers voted to authorize a strike last week, ramping up negotiations between them and the big three. In the immediate hours after the contract has expired, it’s clear that neither side wants to give in.

Fain shared how wages could be increased without it affecting leadership.

“I think it is a joke. They could double our pay right now,” said Fain. “The cost of labor that goes into a vehicle is five percent of the vehicle. They could double our wages and not raise the price of vehicles, and they would still make billions of dollars. It is a lie like everything else that comes out of their mouth.”

He said it is going to keep building if they do not come to the table for the UAW members.

Though both sides are far apart on negotiating terms, they said they are confident they will come to an agreement soon.

Ford, GM, and Stellantis released statements Thursday evening following the announcement on the UAW striking:

At 8 p.m. this evening at Solidarity House in Detroit, the United Auto Workers presented its first substantive counterproposal to Ford a few hours from the expiration of the current four-year collective bargain agreement.
On the key economic issues that matter most to our UAW-represented employees, Ford has submitted four proposals to the UAW since Aug. 29. The last offer Ford submitted was historically generous, with large wage increases, cost of living adjustments, more paid time off, additional retirement contributions and more.
Unfortunately, the UAW’s counterproposal tonight showed little movement from the union’s initial demands submitted Aug. 3. If implemented, the proposal would more than double Ford’s current UAW-related labor costs, which are already significantly higher than the labor costs of Tesla, Toyota and other foreign-owned automakers in the United States that utilize non-union-represented labor.
The union made clear that unless we agreed to its unsustainable terms, it plans a work stoppage at 11:59 p.m. eastern. Ford has bargained in good faith in an effort to avoid a strike, which could have wide-ranging consequences for our business and the economy. It also impacts the very 57,000 UAW-Ford workers we are trying to reward with this contract. Our hourly employees would take home nearly 60% less on average with UAW strike pay than they would from working. And without vehicles in production, the profit-sharing checks that UAW workers could expect to receive early next year will also be decimated by a significant strike.
Ford remains absolutely committed to reaching an agreement that rewards our employees and protects Ford’s ability to invest in the future as we move through industry-wide transformation.
Ford Motor Company

United Auto Workers (UAW) union workers are on strike against Michigan’s big three automakers—General Motors (GM), Ford and Stellantis.

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