Скачать или смотреть Auto workers picket Toledo, Ohio jeep plant

(15 Sep 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Toledo, Ohio - 15 September 2023
1. Various of striking United Auto Workers union members outside of Stellantis Jeep plant
STORYLINE:
About 13,000 U.S. auto workers stopped making vehicles and went on strike Friday after their leaders couldn’t bridge a giant gap between union demands in contract talks and what Detroit’s three automakers are willing to pay.

Members of the United Auto Workers union began picketing at a General Motors assembly plant in Wentzville, Missouri, a Ford factory in Wayne, Michigan, near Detroit, and a Stellantis Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio.

The strikes will likely chart the future of the union and of America’s homegrown auto industry at a time when U.S. labor is flexing its might and the companies face a historic transition from building internal combustion automobiles to making electric vehicles.

The strike is far different from those during previous UAW negotiations.

Instead of going after one company, led by its pugnacious new president, Shawn Fain, the union is striking at all three.

But not all of the 146,000 UAW members at company plants are walking picket lines, at least not yet.

Instead, the UAW targeted a handful of factories to prod company negotiators to raise their offers, which were far lower than union demands of 36% wage increases over four years.

GM and Ford offered 20% and Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, offered 17.5%.

The limited strikes will help to preserve the union’s $825 million strike fund, which would run dry in about 11 weeks if all workers walked out.

But Fain said more plants could be added if the companies don't make better offers.

Even Fain has called the union’s demands audacious, but he maintains the automakers are raking in billions and can afford them.

He scoffed at company statements that costly settlements would force them to raise vehicle prices, saying labor accounts for only 4% to 5% of vehicle costs.

If they last a long time, dealers could run short of vehicles and prices could rise.

The walkout could even be a factor in next year’s presidential election by testing US President Joe Biden’s proud claim to be the most union-friendly president in American history.

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