Shawn Fain, President of the United Auto Workers (UAW), is adopting a firm stance after more than five weeks of striking against Detroit’s Big Three. Despite concessions made by the automakers, the UAW president believes that “there is more to be won.” He has also warned that the union’s strategy of targeted walkouts could potentially expand further.
The UAW’s strategy has undeniably yielded favorable results thus far. Initially, their demands included a 40% pay increase, the elimination of wage tiers, and the reinstatement of cost of living adjustments (COLA), among other things. Several of these demands represent benefits that union members had relinquished during the 2008 financial crisis to assist the big three automakers.
“We’re striking the Big Three like we’ve never struck before,” Fain declared. This plan involves conducting targeted walkouts at particular plants rather than resorting to company-wide strikes. In effect, it’s allowed the UAW to hit the big three in specific pain points. Keeping the number of union members who walk out low also means that the union treasury lasts longer.
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To date, Fain says that all three automakers have agreed to a 23% wage increase but also that “These extremely profitable companies have more to give.” Speaking about why he’s continuing to push he said “These are already record contracts, but they come at the end of decades of record decline. So it’s not enough to be the best ever, when auto workers have gone backwards over the last two decades. That’s a very low bar.”
Fain reported that all three automakers have agreed to a 23% wage increase thus far, but he remains adamant that “These highly profitable companies can offer more.” He explained his determination by stating that, “these are already record contracts, but they come at the end of decades of record decline. So it’s not enough to be the best ever, when auto workers have gone backwards over the last two decades. That’s a very low bar.”
To that end, he threatened, but did not announce, that walkouts at truck and SUV factories could be next if the UAW doesn’t get a better offer soon. According to Reuters, both GM and Stellantis have updated their offers to the UAW in the last 24 hours. Ford hasn’t sent a new one for about two weeks.
The Blue Oval brand says that it’s already maxed out what it’s capable of spending but Fain disagrees. He says that the “money is there” based on publicly known figures like stock dividends. Interestingly, it’s Ford that set what is now the bar all three automakers have agreed to.
Fain told the union on Friday to resist the urge to give into “fear, uncertainty, doubt, and division,” and that the end was in sight. “That’s the hardest part of a strike,” he said. “Right before a deal is when there’s the most aggressive push for that last mile.”