9/15/23 - Deadline Passes and UAW Members Hit The Picket Lines

No contract was reached and the UAW targets three plants, including one in the Detroit area.

DETROIT, Mich. - The United Auto Workers union is now on strike against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis.   It is the first time in its history that it has struck all three of America’s unionized automakers at the same time.

Just after midnight workers walked out of three plants – one each from the Big Three automakers – in Missouri, Michigan and Ohio. 

The UAW referred to its targeted strike of three plants as a “Stand Up Strike,” which it called a strategic “new approach” to walking off the job. 

The UAW’s strikes began at GM’s Wentzville Missouri, which has 3,600 UAW members on its staff; Ford’s Michigan Truck plant in Wayne, Michigan, which will have 3,300 strikes; and Stellantis’ Toledo Assembly complex in Ohio, where 5,800 will be on strike.

The strike came after the current contract expired at midnight.    The UAW had demanded a large wage increase, benefits and job protections for its members.  The union said all three automakers reported record profits and the union is trying to recapture benefits they were forced to give up more than a decade ago.   The UAW is also pushing for more time off, including raising the idea of a four-day, 32-hour work week without a drop in pay.

The automakers all offered the union double-digit pay hikes but it was not enough for the union. The automakers say they are planning for the future and the changes that will come to the auto industry.

GM said they will continue to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible for the benefit of their team members, customers, suppliers and communities across the US.