Whitmer worries about impact strike could have on economy
With hours to go until contracts expire, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she fears the impact a UAW strike could have on the economy and hopes the Detroit Three auto companies and organized labor can come to an agreement soon.
“Of course I’m worried about it,” Whitmer told reporters at the Detroit auto show Thursday when asked about the economic implications of a strike. “I think this is an incredibly important industry.” But it’s also one that has had “very good years,” she said, and referred to both the need to ensure a strong auto industry and that of fair compensation for its workers as “a false choice.”
“We can and must do both, and that’s why I’m hopeful that they’ll stay at the table and get a contract done,” Whitmer said.
Unhappy with contract negotiations with Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, UAW President Shawn Fain told union members in a Facebook Live stream on the eve of when contracts are set to expire that they could “make history together” in the fight for a fair contract with changes he called long overdue. Ford CEO Jim Farley said that the automaker has made its strongest offer in years, while GM and Stellantis said in recent statements that they continue to bargain in good faith with the UAW.
Whitmer said she has spoken with leadership at the auto companies and Fain regularly over the past month and a half.
The latest round of negotiations takes place against the backdrop of one major change in the auto industry that has prompted concerns for workers. The UAW has raised alarms that the turn toward increased domestic electric vehicle production could leave some workers behind. On this front, Whitmer said she’s proud of the work her administration has done to invest in ensuring workers have the skills they’ll need in the future and secure electric vehicle battery investments in Michigan.
The Whitmer administration has backed new electric vehicle battery plants across the state with massive taxpayer-funded economic development deals. Officials approved about $1.7 billion in state and local subsidies to support a planned Ford development near Marshall, one of the largest packages in Michigan history. At the behest of the Whitmer administration, lawmakers this year also approved other large grants for a Gotion Inc. battery project near Big Rapids and an Our Next Energy battery factory in Van Buren Township.
Whitmer has said that those deals will bring good-paying jobs to Michigan and ensure auto supply chains are located in the state that helped put the world on wheels. Michigan must continue to attract those projects and the jobs they bring to the state and “not take this important industry for granted,” she told reporters Thursday.
“It’s important that workers have a good contract but also critical that the Big Three can continue doing the work that they’re doing because it’s an important inflection point right now in this industry and our state,” she said. “We’re poised to be one of the leaders in the world when it comes to batteries.”
On her first stop to check out the vehicles on the floor of the auto show, Whitmer hopped in an all-electric Silverado. “Let’s go,” she said posing for a photo with one hand on the wheel.