The union which represents the 150,000 workers employed by the Big Three US automakers, General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis, has announced its workers have voted to authorize a strike if the union in unable to reach an agreement with management in ongoing union contract negotiations.
Roughly 97% of the United Auto Workers union members at all three automakers voted to authorize a strike. Votes were still being tallied, according to the union on Friday, however the results were enough to authorize the strike. The vote itself will not trigger a strike, however it authorizes the union leadership to call one if they feel they need to.
In a statement, UAW President Shawn Fain said, “Our union’s membership is clearly fed up with living paycheck-to-paycheck while the corporate elite and billionaire class continue to make out like bandits. The Big Three have been breaking the bank while we have been breaking our backs.”
The union is demanding double-digit pay increases, the elimination of tiered wages and benefits, the restoration of cost of living increases, the right to launch strikes over plant closures, an increase in paid time off, and increased benefits for retirees.
Fain went on to say, “Our members’ expectations are high because Big Three profits are so high. The Big Three made a combined $21 billion in profits in just the first six months of this year. That’s on top of the quarter-trillion dollars in North American profits they made over the last decade. While Big Three executives and shareholders got rich, UAW members got left behind.”
According to the union, it represents 46,000 workers at GM, 57,000 workers at Ford and 44,000 workers at Stellantis. The current contract with the Big Three automakers will expire on September 14th.
GM said in a statement earlier in the month that it was “working hard with the UAW every day to ensure we get this agreement right for all our stakeholders.”
The statement went on to say, “We know that our U.S. economic impact supports more than six jobs for every job created by GM. We take that responsibility very seriously, and we continue to bargain in good faith each day to support our team members, our customers, the community and the business.”
Stellantis says its negotiations with the union “continue to be constructive and collaborative with a focus on reaching a new agreement that balances the concerns of our 43,000 employees with our vision for the future — one that better positions the business to meet the challenges of the U.S. marketplace and secures the future for all of our employees, their families and our company.”
Ford said in a statement that it was looking “forward to working with the UAW on creative solutions during this time when our dramatically changing industry needs a skilled and competitive workforce more than ever.”
In the last contract negotiation in 2019, almost 50,000 UAW workers went on strike in a nationwide walkout which lasted more than a month, before a new contract was ratified by the union which in part established bonuses for workers.
