ABOUT 13,000 AUTO WORKERS GO ON STRIKE
UAW is targeting select factories from Sellantis, General Motors, Ford
About 13,000 U.S. auto workers stopped making vehicles and went on strike today 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, Mo., a Ford factory in Wayne, Mich., near Detroit, and a Stellantis Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio.
It was the first time in the union’s 88-year history that it walked out on all three companies simultaneously as four-year contracts with the companies expired at 11:59 p.m. Thursday.
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.
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 Joe Biden’s proud claim to be the most union-friendly president in American history.
“Workers all over the world are watching this,” said Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, a federation of 60 unions with 12.5 million members.
The strike is far different from those during previous UAW negotiations. Instead of going after one company, the union, led by its new president, Shawn Fain, 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 percent wage
ment report.
Sales at gas stations rose a robust 5.2 percent, while furniture and home furnishings stores saw a 1 percent drop in sales. Clothing and accessories stores and electronics store registered sales increases, likely helped by back-to-school spending. Online sales were unchanged in August, perhaps hurt by robust spending during the Amazon Prime day sales event in July.
The retail report covers only about a third of overall consumer spending and doesn’t include services such as haircuts, hotel stays and plane tickets. But it does capture spending at restaurants, which had a slight uptick last month.
The figures are not adjusted for inflation unlike many other government reports.
August’s uptick in retail sales, which marks the fifth straight monthly gain, reflects the economy’s resiliency despite a still tough economic environment. Yet spending has been volatile this year after surging nearly 3 percent in January. Sales tumbled in February and March before recovering in the spring and summer.
The most recent quarterly financial reports from retailers like Macy’s and Target showed that Americans remain cautious as higher interest rates make cars, homes or using credit cards more expensive. In fact, some retailers cited a pick up in credit card delinquencies. And many retailers flagged the end of the student loan moratorium, which had provided onetime college students a little more financial breathing room.
“It is hard to see consumers spending as freely over the rest of the year,” said Michael Pearce, lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Econo
mics, in a note published Thursday. “We expect a sharp slowdown in consumption growth, which will be the decisive factor tipping the economy into a mild recession over the coming quarters.”
Inflation jumped last month largely because of the spike in gas prices but other costs rose more slowly, suggesting price pressures are easing at a gradual pace.
In a set of conf licting data released Wednesday, the Labor Department said the consumer price index rose 3.7 percent in August from a
year ago, up from a 3.2 percent annual pace in July. Yet excluding the volatile food and energy categories, socalled core prices rose 4.3 percent, a step back from 4.7 percent in July and the smallest gain in nearly two years. That is still far from the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target.
America’s employers added 187,000 jobs in August, evidence of a slowing but still-resilient labor market despite the high interest rates the Federal Reserve has imposed.
In the latest sign that
companies are not feeling pressure to increase wages, Walmart is cutting starting pay for some of its new hourly workers like those picking online orders at its stores. The change became effective in July and will create consistency in starting hourly pay across individual stores, said spokeswoman Anne Hatfield, as well as improved staffing and customer service.
Given this uncertainty, many retailers are being cautious about ordering products from toys to clothing for the holiday shopping
season.
They’re hoping to lure shoppers in with new partnerships. Target, hurt by cautious consumer and a backlash to its Pride merchandise, announced this week a deal with jewelry brand Kendra Scott. Prices for the more than 200 new exclusive pieces that include necklaces, rings and accessories will range from $15 to $60. The collection will be available in select stores next month.