Current:Home > ScamsUAW chief to say whether auto strikes will grow from the 34,000 workers now on picket lines-VaTradeCoin
UAW chief to say whether auto strikes will grow from the 34,000 workers now on picket lines
View Date:2025-01-09 23:51:18
DETROIT (AP) — United Auto Workers union President Shawn Fain is expected to update members Friday afternoon on progress in contract talks with Detroit’s three automakers as movement was reported with General Motors.
Fain is scheduled to do a live video appearance, where he could call on more workers to walk off their jobs, joining the 34,000 already on strike at six vehicle assembly plants and 38 parts distribution warehouses.
The union’s strikes at targeted plants at each company began on Sept. 15 and are nearing the start of their sixth week.
A person briefed on the talks says the union is exchanging offers with GM and will meet again Friday with the company. The person didn’t want to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak on the record about the bargaining. There also were meetings on Thursday with Jeep maker Stellantis.
On Thursday, GM posted a video indicating that bargainers are still some distance apart. Gerald Johnson, the company’s global head of manufacturing, said GM has offered a total wage and benefit package that averages $150,000 per worker. It includes a 20% pay increase over four years and a company contribution of 8% per year in 401(k) accounts, cost-of-living increases, and it brings most workers to a top wage of $39.24 per hour by September of 2027, the company said.
GM already has agreed to pull new electric vehicle battery plants into the national UAW contract, essentially making them unionized, a key point for Fain and the union.
The UAW is seeking 36% wages, restoration of defined benefit pensions that workers gave up in the Great Recession, pension increases for retirees, an end to varying tiers of wages for workers and other items.
“You might might be asking yourselves why can’t General Motors meet every demand Shawn Fain is asking for?” Johnson said on the video. “Simple answer is we need profits to invest in our future.”
He goes on to say that during the past decade, GM had net income of $65 billion but invested $77 billion in the business. “If we don’t have those profits to continue our investments in our plants, our people and our products, we will be facing declining market share, an inability to fund the EV transition, and an inability to compete with a growing number of competitors right here in America,” Johnson said.
Ford and Stellantis have made similar comments, with Ford saying it has reached the limit on how much it can spend to settle the strike.
The union, however, says labor expenses are only about 5% of a vehicle’s costs, and the companies can divert money from profits and stock buybacks to pay for raises that cover inflation and make up for years of contracts without significant increases.
The strikes started with one assembly plant from each company after contracts expired at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 14. The union later added the parts warehouses, then one assembly plant each from Ford and GM.
Last week the union made a surprise move, escalating the strikes by adding a huge Ford pickup truck and SUV plant in Louisville, Kentucky.
But Fain told workers Friday that the union added the Kentucky plant after Ford presented an economic offer with no more money than a proposal from two weeks ago.
About 23% of the union’s 146,000 members employed by the three automakers are on strike.
Stellantis said Friday that it canceled displays and presentations at the upcoming Specialty Equipment Market Association show and the Los Angeles Auto Show as strike costs continue to grow. Earlier this week the company pulled out of the CES gadget show in January.
veryGood! (9152)
Related
- Dallas Long, who won 2 Olympic medals while dominating the shot put in the 1960s, has died at 84
- 'El Juicio (The Trial)' details the 1976-'83 Argentine dictatorship's reign of terror
- Gun violence is the ultimate ‘superstorm,’ President Biden says as he announces new federal effort
- FBI is investigating alleged abuse in Baton Rouge police warehouse known as the ‘Brave Cave’
- Elton John Details Strict Diet in His 70s
- See Sophie Turner Step Out in New York After Filing Joe Jonas Lawsuit
- How The Young and the Restless Honored Late Actor Billy Miller Days After His Death
- NBA to crack down on over-the-top flopping
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Something Corporate
- $70M Powerball winner, who was forced to reveal her identity, is now a fierce advocate for anonymity
Ranking
- How Saturday Night Live Reacted to Donald Trump’s Win Over Kamala Harris
- Who’s Bob Menendez? New Jersey’s senator charged with corruption has survived politically for years
- Back at old job, Anthony Mackie lends star power to New Orleans’ post-Ida roof repair effort
- Jailhouse letter adds wrinkle in case of mom accused of killing husband, then writing kids’ book
- Report: Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence could miss rest of season with shoulder injury
- Late-day heroics pull Europe within two points of Team USA at 2023 Solheim Cup
- Joe Biden to join picket line with striking auto workers in Michigan
- Lawn mowers and equipment valued at $100,000 stolen from parking lot at Soldier Field
Recommendation
-
FC Cincinnati player Marco Angulo dies at 22 after injuries from October crash
-
Minneapolis plans to transfer city property to Native American tribe for treatment center
-
Team USA shuts out Europe in foursomes for first time in Solheim Cup history
-
More than 35,000 register to vote after Taylor Swift's Instagram post: 'Raise your voices'
-
IAT Community Introduce
-
College football Week 4: Ranking the seven best matchups for ideal weekend watching
-
Black teens learn to fly and aim for careers in aviation in the footsteps of Tuskegee Airmen
-
From 'Almost Famous' to definitely famous, Billy Crudup is enjoying his new TV roles