Strike at all 3 Detroit automakers a new tactic to squeeze companies
DETROIT — Nearly 1 in 10 of America's unionized auto workers went on strike Friday to pressure Detroit's three automakers into raising wages in an era of big profits and as the industry begins a costly transition from gas guzzlers to electric vehicles.
By striking simultaneously at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler owner Stellantis for the first time in its history, the United Auto Workers union is trying to inflict a new kind of pain on the companies in hopes of clawing back some pay and benefits workers gave up in recent decades.
The strikes are limited for now to three assembly plants: a GM factory in Wentzville, Mo., a Ford plant in Wayne, Mich., near Detroit, and a Jeep plant run by
Stellantis in Toledo, Ohio.
The workers received support from President Joe Biden, who dispatched aides to Detroit to help resolve the impasse and said the Big 3 automakers should share their “record profits.”
Union President Shawn Fain says more plants could be added if the companies don't come up with better offers. The workers are seeking across-the-board wage increases of 36% over four years; the companies have countered by offering increases ranging from 17.5% to 20%.
Workers out on the picket lines said they hoped the strikes didn't last long, but that they were committed to the cause and appreciated Fain's tough tactics.
“We didn't have a problem coming in during COVID, being essential workers and making them big profits,” said Chrism Hoisington, who has worked at the Toledo Jeep plant since 2001.
“We've sacrificed a lot.”
In its previous 88-year history, UAW had always negotiated with one automaker at a time, limiting the industrywide impact of any possible work stoppages.
Now, roughly 13,000 of 146,000 workers at the three companies are on strike, making life complicated for automakers' operations, while limiting the drain on the union's $825 million strike fund.
If the contract negotiations drag on — and the strikes expand to affect more plants — the costs will grow for workers and the companies. Auto dealers could run short of vehicles, raising prices and pushing customers to buy from foreign automakers with nonunionized workers. It could also put stress on an economy that's already been hit hard by inflation.
In addition to general wage increases, the union is seeking restoration of cost-of-living pay raises, an end to varying tiers of wages for factory jobs, a 32-hour week with 40 hours of pay, the restoration of traditional defined-benefit pensions for new hires who now receive only 401(k)-style retirement plans, pension increases for retirees and other items.
Top-scale assembly plant workers make about $32 per hour, plus large annual profitsharing checks. Ford said average annual pay including overtime and bonuses was $78,000 last year.
Automakers say they're facing unprecedented demands as they develop and build new electric vehicles while at the same time making gas-powered cars, SUVs and trucks to pay the bills. They're worried labor costs will rise so much that they'll have to price their cars above those sold by foreign automakers with U.S. factories.