UAW President Shawn Fain on Oct. 6, 2023 during an internet broadcast updating union members on negotiations with the Detroit automakers.
Screenshot
DETROIT – The United Auto Employees is not going to expand strikes against the Detroit automakers this week amid progress within the talks, including General Motors agreeing to incorporate battery cell staff under the corporate’s national agreement.
That is the primary week since targeted strikes by the UAW began on Sept. 15 that the union is not going to expand the work stoppages at GM, Ford Motor or Chrysler-parent Stellantis.
Fain said the union was planning to shut down GM’s Arlington Assembly plant that produces highly profitable full-size SUVs until a last-minute proposal by the corporate to put the automaker’s battery cell staff under its national agreement.
“Just that threat has provided a transformative win,” Fain, wearing an “EAT THE RICH” T-shirt, said during an internet broadcast Friday. “We have been told for months that that is not possible … and now we have called their bluff. What this can mean for our membership can’t be understated.”
GM declined to instantly comment on the battery cell staff, citing the continued negotiations: “Our goal stays to succeed in an agreement that rewards our employees and allows GM to achieve success into the long run.”
GM, with its battery plant in Ohio, is the one Detroit automaker with a three way partnership battery plant in operation and unionized within the U.S. The automaker has announced plans for 2 other U.S. battery cell plants with LG Energy Solution in addition to one with Samsung SDI.
Battery plants
GM’s agreement will put pressure on crosstown rivals Ford and Stellantis to do the identical, because the UAW tends to pattern agreements off each other for members to receive “equal pay for equal work,” a longstanding motto of the union.
“The plan was to attract down engine and transmission plants and permanently replace them with low-wage battery jobs,” Fain said. “We had a distinct plan, and our plan is winning at GM. And we expect it to win at Ford and Stellantis as well.”
Electric vehicle battery plants have been a major point of contention on this 12 months’s talks between the union and the three Detroit automakers. Each automaker has formed joint ventures with battery makers to fabricate EV batteries in america — a move the union has characterised as a plan to shut it out of the brand new factories, a lot of that are under construction now.
Officially, because they’re owned by joint ventures, the battery plants aren’t covered by the automakers’ agreements with the union. The automakers have said that due to that status, the plants should not be a think about contract negotiations with the union.
However the UAW has made a “just transition” — meaning, a plan to guard their members because the industry shifts to electric vehicles — a centerpiece of this 12 months’s negotiations, something that has frustrated the automakers. Ford CEO Jim Farley said last week that the UAW is “holding the deal hostage over battery plants.”
Ford declined to comment following Fain’s comments Friday, referring to a press release issued earlier within the week that the corporate stays “open to the potential of working with the UAW on future battery plants within the U.S., reminding that these are multibillion-dollar investments and need to operate at sustainably competitive levels.”
Fain said in his Friday presentation that the union had expected to announce an expansion of the strike against GM. “But today, due to our power, GM has agreed to put the muse for a just transition,” he said.
‘Significant progress’
UAW has been steadily increasing the strikes for the reason that work stoppages began, after the edges didn’t reach tentative agreements by Sept 14. The targeted, or “get up,” strikes are happening as a substitute of national walkouts by which all plants concurrently strike.
“I wish I were here to announce a tentative agreement at a number of of those firms, but I do wish to be really clear: We’re making significant progress,” Fain said. “In only three weeks, we now have moved these firms further than anyone thought was possible.”
Fain said Ford has offered a 23% raise over the lifetime of the expected 4 and a half 12 months contract, while GM and Stellantis are at around 20%. Stellantis and Ford even have agreed to reinstate a cost-of-living adjustment that the union lost greater than a decade ago, amongst other enhanced proposals by each of the businesses.
Stellantis North America Chief Operating Officer Mark Stewart, who’s overseeing the negotiations, said the edges “are making progress, but there are gaps that also have to be closed.”
“While we still have some work to do, I remain optimistic that our discussions are providing a pathway to a tentative agreement,” Stewart said.
Striking United Auto Employees (UAW) members from the General Motors Lansing Delta Plant picket in Delta Township, Michigan September 29, 2023.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters
Only 25,200 staff, or roughly 17% of UAW members covered by the expired contracts with the Detroit automakers, are currently on strike. Fain previously said the union would increase the work stoppages, based on progress within the contract negotiations.
The strikes began at an assembly plant for every of the Detroit automakers, followed by 38 parts and distribution centers for GM and Stellantis. Per week ago, the union expanded strikes to assembly plants for GM in mid-Michigan and Ford in Illinois.
“We have been very careful about how we escalate this strategy,” Fain said.
Vehicle production impacted by the strikes include Ford’s Ranger midsize pickup and Bronco, Explorer and Lincoln Aviator SUVs; Stellantis’ Jeep Wrangler SUV and Gladiator small pickup; and GM’s Chevrolet and GMC midsize pickups, Chevrolet Traverse, Cadillac XT4 and Buick Enclave SUVs and Chevrolet Malibu sedan. The Malibu and XT4 production were idled because of parts shortages brought on by the strike.
GM this week said the UAW’s strike cost it $200 million in lost production throughout the third quarter.
UAW negotiators have received counter proposals from each of the Detroit automakers throughout the past week, starting with Stellantis per week ago before Fain’s Friday strike announcement. Ford followed early within the week with a proposal after which GM submitted a counteroffer Wednesday night.
