UAW gears up for strike as contract negotiations reach their deadline

Workers at three major car companies in the United States are getting ready to go on strike together in a way that has never happened before.

The United Autoworkers Union said that the companies did not offer acceptable deals, and the current labor contracts are ending on Thursday night.

This fight could cause prices to increase for people who want to buy things and create big problems for the companies GM, Ford, and Stellantis.

The UAW said some workers might go on strike starting Friday at a few locations, and the strike could spread to more places.

UAW president Shawn Fain said on Wednesday that although companies are showing some progress, they are still not willing to agree on giving salary increases that would compensate for the rising prices and declining wages over the past few decades.

The union wanted a 40% raise in pay for its around 140,000 members over four years. They pointed out that company leaders had also received a similar increase in pay.


The discussions between the two parties began in July and were tense right from the beginning. Fain skipped the tradition of shaking hands with the executives, which usually marks the start of negotiations.

The three companies have increased their first offers. Ford wants to raise pay by 20% over the contract time, GM by 18%, and Stellantis (the owner of Jeep and Chrysler) by 17. 5%, according to Mr.

He said that the companies can afford to give more, since they have been making a lot of money for many years.

Mr Fain recently became a leader and had promised to challenge big companies. He described the fight using religious language, saying it was a part of a bigger battle against wealthy individuals and a belief that change could happen.


“We fight to help all the people who work and those who are poor,” he said. We are not the issue. Corporate greed is the issue.

Jim Farley, the leader of Ford, said to the news people earlier this week that he wanted to prevent a strike, but there were things the company couldn’t agree on.

“He said we need to make sure the company stays strong and successful for a long time,”

American car manufacturers are already facing challenges with a decrease in sales and expenses related to new investments as they transition production to electric cars.

According to the Anderson Economic Group, if all workers at the three car companies go on strike for 10 days, it could cost the companies almost $1 billion and the workers nearly $900 million in lost wages. It is estimated that the strike could cause about $5 billion in economic damage as it affects various areas.

Before the strike started, there were not many cars available for sale. This is because there were not enough car parts due to the pandemic. The number of cars available now is much lower than in the past.

Experts said that this could result in a long strike leading to increased prices for shoppers.

Ford, GM, and Stellantis together make up around 40% of car sales in the US, but their portion has significantly decreased in the last 25 years due to the success of foreign companies like Toyota.

The companies have been able to stop unions from forming and have cheaper labor expenses.

But workers in the US are becoming more frustrated because their pay is not keeping up with the increasing prices and there are fewer job opportunities available.

According to research from Cornell University, last year there were over 420 instances where work was stopped, which is more than 50% increase from the previous year.

Earlier this year, the big delivery company UPS almost had a strike where workers refuse to work. Also, in Hollywood, writers and actors are still on strike.

The car industry had a strike in 2019. Workers at General Motors stopped working for six weeks.