UAW workers at plants owned by all big three automakers now on strike

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - The United Auto Worker’s (UAW) union will begin one of the largest strikes in the industry’s history.

Tonight, UAW President Shawn Fain announced the results of contract negotiations between the big three Detroit automakers. As an agreement has not been made, workers at all big three Detroit automakers will be going on strike.

Workers at three locations will walk off the job site at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 14. Workers will begin the strike by walking off plants in Wayne, Michigan, Toledo, Ohio and Wentzville, Missouri.

This is the first time UAW workers have conducted a strike against all three of the big three Detroit automakers (Ford, GM and Stellantis.)

After the strike was announced, Ford released a statement on the strike. It can be read in its entirety below:

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.

Members of the big three said some of these asks would not be sustainable. UAW President Shawn Fain called the big three’s counteroffers a bluff.

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