The EV revolution is on hold as the ‘Big Three’ autoworkers go on strike: The story of the UAW, GM, and Ford

“People are angry,” Brandon Szcesniak, a 21-year-old union member who works at Ford’s Wayne plant, told Labor Notes. The door is like a revolving door. It is not a career anymore. They want us to buy a car, but how can we afford it?

The UAW has struggled to find a job for nonunion workers at the plant. The National Labor Relations Board said the company violated labor law when it prevented workers from discussing pay and working conditions. There have been hundreds of complaints against the company over the years.

This situation is a potential nightmare for GM and Ford as both 313 stalwarts are currently in the beginning stages of a massive EV transformation path that will define future success. He added that the “clear winner was… They had champagne now on ice.

Source: The EV revolution is on hold as the ‘Big Three’ autoworkers go on strike

The United Auto Workers’ Strike: The Grand Unified View of the American Automobile Industry and Implications for the Future of the UAW

Sam Fiorani of AutoForecast Solutions said that the strike was symbolic, and that it was not an actual damaging one. Not everyone was in agreement to the point of agreement.

Analysts were split on the economic impact of the strike, with some calling it symbolic and others devastating. The struck plants produce some of the automakers’ most profitable models, including the Ford Bronco, the Jeep Wrangler, and the Chevy Colorado pickup.

But the union notes that all three automakers have pulled in record profits in recent years — a combined $21 billion in just the first six months of 2023, according to UAW — and the workers now want their fair share.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) went on strike at midnight on Friday, making it difficult for the Big Three to spend billions of dollars on electric vehicles.

Those plans are now on hold, as Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis workers take to the streets to demand a share of the profits generated by combustion trucks and SUVs as well as stronger job security and better retirement plans.

For the first time in history, the UAW is striking against all of Detroit’s automakers at the same time after failing to reach a new contract with the auto companies.

Ford said it got a counterproposal from the union hours before the current contract expired but said there was “little movement” from the UAW’s previous proposal.

The labor costs of foreign-owned cars in the United States is more expensive than the labor costs of UAW-represented cars if the proposal is implemented.

The Big Three, GM and the LHC: Where are we heading? What are we worried about if the Automakers don’t care about what we do?

GM CEO Mary Barra noted that the two sides were still far apart on key issues. “We still have a ways to go with the offer they put on the table last night,” Barra said on CBS This Morning on Friday.

Analysts note that the Big Three spend roughly $64–$67 an hour on total labor costs, including benefits, while their nonunion rivals only spend around $55 an hour and Tesla spends $45–$50 an hour.

“The big issue for GM and Ford as well as investors is around if anywhere near a ~40% wage increase gets approved/agreed this will be a major headwind on the cost front and ultimately in some way be passed down to the consumer and thru EV prices,” he wrote in a research note. The cost of EV vehicles out of Detroit is a big advantage for mass adoption and it results in demandchurning if there is any additional cost to the vehicle.

I worry about if we had a more intense strike that drags on for a long time, does that lead the automakers to rethink where they invest? It is Ehrlich who says.

“I believe he’s going to hold out,” he says. “These big companies don’t understand how much stress and pain we put on our body, and missing our family’s lives.”

Coleman, who makes $19.76 an hour after five and a half years at the Stellantis plant in Toledo, says despite his initial disappointment in the size of the strike, he still has faith in Fain.

What Happens When Striking Workers Are Out Of Work: A Plan from the Perspective of the GM, Stellantis, Ford, and Chevrolet Plants

“This is not a coincidence. These are vehicles that consumers need and want, and these are plants where the production volumes are efficient.

The striking Stellantis plant makes Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators. The striking Ford plant makes Ford Broncos and Rangers. According to the UAW, the GM plant produces the Chevy Colorado, the GMC Canyon, and two different vans.

Striking workers won’t be getting paychecks while they are out of work. $500 a week is the amount of strike pay that they will receive. But on average, that will replace only about 40% of their lost wages. That will likely mean reduced spending in communities where striking workers live.

I think that Shawn Fain has a good plan and I am very comfortable with it. I don’t think he’s just doing it off the seat of his pants,” said Kyle Bendert, who works on the engine line at the Ford plant in Wayne, Mich.

The Story of Fain: Why the Auto Workers Are Striking at the Three Big Three Automakers and How they’re Going to Come Back to Work

There was a lot of excitement on the streets as crowds and drivers cheered and yelled for the plants to come back to work.

As someone who’s followed labor movements for decades, Block says she was intrigued to see Fain choosing to strike all three automakers at once, but limited to one plant at each to start.

Sharon Block, executive director of the Center for Labor and a Just Economy, says they don’t become at- will employees if the contract has expired.

The UAW tried to allay those fears, putting out a video ahead of the strike explaining that most of the contract terms remain in effect, including that management still has to bargain with the union over any changes to wages, hours or working conditions.

“This is going to create confusion for the companies,” Fain told union members earlier this week. “It’s going to keep them guessing on what might happen next, and it’s going to turbocharge the power of our negotiators to be as effective as possible.”

“Honestly, I think he was soft,” he said of Fain. To get back what we have lost, I feel he should have hit the major plants and facilities with the message that it’s serious.

Jerry Coleman, a long-time temporary employee working 70 hours a week at the Stellantis Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio, has welcomed the tough rhetoric of Fain.

The union, the United Auto Workers, launches a strike against the Big Three cars and they’re running high with their emotions.

If all of the autoworkers in the UAW went on strike, the union’s strike fund would last about three months. The striking workers’ health insurance will be paid for by the union.

How the UAW strike could have ripple effects across the economy: Automakers in the era of COVID-19, Stellantis, and Ford

More cars are on dealers’ lots now than there were a year ago, when supplies were still severely limited by the COVID-19 pandemic and a shortage of computer chips.

Ford has enough vehicles on hand to last about two months. GM’s inventory is a little smaller; Stellantis’ inventory is a bit larger. There is a cushion, but it won’t last forever.

New-car prices rose 0.3% in August after four months of flat or falling prices. Any loss of production could put more upward pressure on prices, although nonunion carmakers such as Honda and Volkswagen will keep cranking out vehicles during the strike.

“This is a small impact, but meaningful in relation to higher oil prices, higher mortgage rates, and the potential government shutdown that are negative for growth in the coming months,” said Mark Zandi, economist at Moody’s.

The auto industry is also relatively contained, unlike delivery giant UPS or freight railroads, where threatened strikes in the last year could have had much more far-reaching effects.

The strike could change the future of the industry. The transition to electric vehicles has caused autoworkers to be nervous about how it will affect production.

After a protracted machinists strike in 2008, for example, Boeing shifted some aircraft production to a new plant in South Carolina, a fiercely anti-union state.

Source: How the UAW strike could have ripple effects across the economy

Stop and Eat: Why the Big Three are Trying to Shut Down the Workers That Aren’t On Strike, and Should They Go Out to Dinner?

“Maybe you don’t go out to dinner,” Ehrlich says. “People say, ‘Oh, I’ve prepared for a strike. But there’s only so much you can do to save up for a strike. Obviously, the $500 a week helps. That’s not making up for a full paycheck.

Ford sent home about 600 workers at its Michigan plant on Friday because of strike-related production issues. There are a lot of reasons why General GM warned that 2,000 workers at its Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas would be out of work next week.

When a factory is idled because of supply chain issues, companies typically give partial pay to its non-striking workers. There will be no such compensation according to both General GM and Ford.

The temporary layoffs were called a strategic attack by the UAW, which will make sure affected workers continue to have an income.

The Big Three are attempting to put the squeeze on our members to settle for less, by laying off people who aren’t on strike,” he said in a statement Saturday.

About 600 workers at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant’s body construction department and south sub-assembly area of integrated stamping were told not to report to work on Friday because the components they produce require e-coating. The paint department at the facility went on strike because of e-coating.

The strike at Wentzville Assembly in Missouri is already having a negative effect on the rest of the Fairfax assembly plant.

“This is due to a shortage of critical stampings supplied by Wentzville’s stamping operations to Fairfax,” General Motors said in a statement. We are working under an expired agreement. Unfortunately, there are no provisions that allow for company-provided SUB-pay in this circumstance.”

They don’t have to lay off a single employee with their record profits. In fact, they could double every autoworker’s pay, not raise car prices, and still rake in billions of dollars,” he said in a statement on Saturday.