2023 United Auto Workers strike

United Auto Workers

The labor union United Auto Workers (UAW) represents approximately 145,000 automobile workers employed at Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Stellantis.[12] To achieve its goals, UAW has engaged in strike action; from November 1945 to March 1946, UAW went on strike against General Motors. The 1945—1946 strike established a strategy, forged by then-UAW president Walter Reuther, to target efforts on a single company. Since the 1950s, UAW has faced declining union membership and a growing service sector, reducing the economic impact that a strike could have.[13] In 2019, UAW autoworkers went on strike against General Motors. The 40-day work stoppage cost General Motors US$3.6 billion and caused a single-quarter recession in Michigan.[14]

Contract negotiations

In March 2023, newly elected UAW president Shawn Fain stated that workers were "fed up with the status quo" and assured that he would negotiate for changes to workers' contracts. Fain called for cost of living adjustments to account for inflation ahead of the current contracts expiring on September 14 and asked for wage increases lost in the 2008 financial crisis.[15] Members have expressed interest in both ending a two-tier wage system in which newer employees are paid significantly less than older employees, and domestic plant construction.[16] Fain continued his sentiments at the Automotive Press Association in April, expressing disappointment in the idling of the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Belvidere, Illinois.[17] Additionally, he lambasted wage decreases that workers at joint venture battery factories face compared to workers at older factories.[18]

By May 2023, the potential for a strike loomed over contract talks.[19] In an online appearance in June, Fain repeated his goals and criticized automobile manufacturers for increasing their profits without increasing wages.[20] Fain continued to leave strike action as a possible option leading up to contract negotiations.[21] Contract negotiations began on July 14.[22] Throughout negotiations, Fain has updated members online, including throwing one automaker's proposal in the trash on camera.[23] On August 15, Fain announced a strike vote;[24] it overwhelmingly passed on August 27 with 97 percent voting in favor.[25] UAW has asked for an immediate 20 percent raise and yearly gradual increases totaling an hourly pay increase of 46 percent, the restoration of traditional pension payment plans and retiree health care, a four-day workweek, job protections, and a beneficial transition to electric vehicles.[26] Fain has acknowledged the UAW demands are audacious but argues they are justified, pushing for the reversal of post-2007 wage cuts.[27]

Agreements and end to the strike

On October 25, a tentative agreement was reached between the UAW and Ford; it includes an 11% wage increase in the first year, and total 25% increase in wages over the 4.5 year contract, a $5,000 ratification bonus and a cost-of-living adjustment. When including cost-of-living adjustments, total pay could be raised by 30%. As part of the agreement, all striking Ford workers will return to the job while the contracts are ratified.[45][46] Three days later, on October 28, the UAW announced a similar tentative deal with Stellantis;[47] the same day, 4,000 workers at GM's Spring Hill Manufacturing subsequently joined the strike,[48] despite late-night talks on October 27, at which Fain and General Motors CEO Mary Barra were reportedly present.[49] On October 30, the UAW announced a deal with General Motors, leading to a suspension of the strike and a return of all striking workers back to the job.[50][51]

All three contracts also eliminated the two-tier system of wages, wherein some workers were classified as "temporary workers" and paid less. For example, at Ford a temporary worker who previously made $16.67 an hour will now be classified as permanent, and make a minimum of $24.91 an hour. Those who are employed in or before 2023 will earn $40.82 an hour by the end of the contract if they remain, due to reaching full seniority by years.[52] All three contracts are subject to ratification by the union's members; the first vote occurred at Local 900, the first plant to go on strike, with 82% of members voting in favor of the agreement.[53] While UAW members would vote to ratify contracts with Stellantis and Ford by over 69%,[10][11] General Motors saw a significantly smaller majority, with only just over 54% UAW voters agreeing to ratify their contract.[54][9]

Politicians

Democratic Party

On September 15, the day after the strike began, the UAW held a rally outside Huntington Place in Detroit, which was then hosting the North American International Auto Show. The rally featured speeches from Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, as well as US Senator Bernie Sanders.[64][65][66] Sanders called on the CEOs of Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis to "end [their] greed", addressing each by name.[67] Democratic members of Congress from the Detroit area, including Debbie Dingell, Haley Stevens, Shri Thanedar, and Rashida Tlaib, were also in attendance, voicing support for the strike.[64][68]

The strike posed a risk to president Joe Biden's commitment to electric vehicles as Biden was running for reelection. Biden's automotive industry liaison Gene Sperling stated that, while he remains committed to electric vehicles, Biden will ensure a "just transition" for union members.[69] On the day of the strike, Biden called for an amelioration with "record contracts" matching "record corporate profits".[70] On September 26, 2023, Biden joined the picket line at a General Motors warehouse in Van Buren Township, Michigan, and delivered comments supporting the striking workers; the appearance made him the first sitting US president to visit a picket line.[71][72][73]

Throughout the strike, many other Democratic politicians have voiced their support for striking workers.[74] Many have joined picket lines at participating facilities; among them, US senators Gary Peters, Sherrod Brown, Bob Casey Jr.,[75] Dick Durbin, Tammy Duckworth, and John Fetterman;[76] US representatives Cori Bush, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,[77] Ro Khanna, Morgan McGarvey, and Elissa Slotkin; Kentucky governor Andy Beshear and lieutenant governor Jacqueline Coleman;[78] Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson;[79] and Louisville mayor Craig Greenberg.[78][80][81]

Republican Party

Former president Donald Trump did not publicly support the strike, instead criticizing UAW leadership and the Biden administration's electric car policy saying "UAW workers being sold down the river by the union in favor of green agenda".[82] Much of his criticism of the UAW centered on comments made by Fain criticizing Trump; he subsequently called on Fain and the UAW to endorse his campaign.

On September 18, Trump's campaign announced that he would give a televised speech to striking autoworkers in Detroit on the evening of September 27, the same night as the second Republican presidential debate in California.[83] The speech was held an hour prior to the debate, at a non-union Drake Enterprises auto parts plant in the Detroit suburb of Clinton Township.[84] In the speech, Trump claimed to have "saved American auto manufacturing", and continued his criticism of Biden, accusing him of "destroying unions" and "shipping American jobs overseas", and claiming that his administration's promotion of electric vehicles would lead to losses for automakers, resulting in a rise in imported vehicles and mass layoffs at US plants.[85] He downplayed the importance of the strike and negotiations, though he did call for automotive workers to be paid higher wages.[86] 400 to 500 Trump supporters were reportedly in attendance; it was unclear, however, how many were striking UAW members.[86][87]

Kristina Karamo, chairperson of the Michigan Republican Party, similarly criticized the UAW for their support of Democratic candidates, whom she accused of damaging the US economy.[86]

US Senator Tim Scott compared the UAW strike to the 1981 strikes organized by the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization and praised former President Ronald Reagan's approach, stating: "He said, you strike, you're fired. Simple concept to me".[88] Fain later filed a complaint against Scott with the National Labor Relations Board on the grounds that, as the employer of campaign staff, his statements reflected a threat against his workers' right to strike and violated the National Labor Relations Act.[89]

US Senators Josh Hawley and JD Vance were the only Republican members of Congress to have joined a picket line during the strike, having appeared at General Motors Wentzville Assembly and Stellantis Toledo Assembly, respectively.[90]

Automakers

Ford CEO Jim Farley claimed that had the UAW proposal been in effect since 2019, Ford would have gone bankrupt.[91] In response, Fain stated "The cost of labor for a vehicle is 5% ... They could double our wages and not raise the prices ... and they would still make billions of dollars. It's a lie like everything else that comes out of their mouths."[92]

Others

In an opinion article, Steven Rattner, who served on Barack Obama's Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry during the government's restructuring of GM and Chrysler (predecessor of Stellantis) associated with their 2008 bankruptcies, stated that while he feels that the auto workers should get raises, they are asking for too much from an industry with thin profit margins that has stagnated relative to the growth of the overall economy.[93]