Workers authorize strikes at GM, Ford and Stellantis

United Auto Workers members have overwhelmingly voted to authorize union leaders to call strikes against General Motors, Ford Motors and Stellantis — the Big Three — if a contract agreement is not reached next month.

Final votes are still being tabulated, but according to the union, as of Thursday morning the current combined average across the Big Three was about 97% in favor of authorizing the strike.

That does not mean a strike will be called, the union said, but it gives union leaders the green light to do so if Detroit automakers refuse to offer an acceptable deal.

“Our union’s membership is clearly fed up with living paycheck-to-paycheck while the corporate elite and billionaire class continue to make out like bandits,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement. “The Big Three have been breaking the bank while we have been breaking our backs.”

The union represents approximately 145,000 workers at GM, Ford and Stellantis, the company that sells vehicles under the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge names.

Contracts with the three automakers are set to expire at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 14.

Earlier this week, Fain hinted at members they should start preparing for a possible strike, as negotiations didn’t seem to be going well.

“These companies better come to the table. The clock is ticking,” he told a group of about 100 workers who gathered near Stellantis’ Mack Avenue assembly complex on Wednesday. “Today I want you guys to have some fun practicing for what we’re going to have to do if these companies don’t give us our fair share.”

Some of the union’s demands include the elimination of tiered wages and benefits; more paid time off so workers can spend time with their families; increases to current retiree benefits; and wage increases — to both offset inflation and “match the generous salary increases of company executives over the last four years,” UAW said in a news release.

“Our members’ expectations are high because Big Three profits are so high,” Fain said. “The Big Three made a combined $21 billion in profits in just the first six months of this year. That’s on top of the quarter-trillion dollars in North American profits they made over the last decade. While Big Three executives and shareholders got rich, UAW members got left behind. Our message to the Big Three is simple: record profits mean record contracts.”