The United Auto Workers said Friday that 97% of UAW workers have voted yes to authorize a strike against the Big 3 – Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.
While a strike authorization vote passing doesn’t mean a picket line is imminent, workers say it is a strong show of force and offers leverage at the bargaining table if the union cannot strike a deal with the automakers by the end of the negotiation period.
Members are currently working under a contract that is set to expire on Sept. 14. The UAW has been in talks with Detroit's Big Three — Ford, Stellantis and General Motors — since July. However, they remain far apart on issues like pay increases and retirement benefits.
Earlier this week, auto workers gathered to hold a practice picket with just a few weeks left in their contract.
“We don’t want to strike, but if we have to, we will. If we don’t get a fair contract, we’re willing to walk out,” Tiffany Ogletree, a Stellantis employee.
"The world is watching. They need to see that we’re serious about these things. It’s not that we want to go on a strike. We know that a strike will hurt us as well as the company but more importantly, it’s going to hurt the community," said Lynda Jackson, who is the reporting secretary at UAW Local 7.
Earlier this month, the union shared a list of demands with the Big 3.
Via a live Facebook post, UAW President Shaw Fain shared a total of 10 'Members' Demands' that include:
- Eliminate tiers: It's wrong to make any worker second class.
- Substantial wage increases: we're demanding double-digit pay raises.
- Restore COLA - It's Cost of Living Adjustments that made sure working-class communities thrived for decades.
- Defined benefit pension for all workers
- Re-establish retiree medical benefits.
- Significantly increase retiree pay.
- Right to strike over plant closures; The Big Three have closed 65 plants over the last 20 years.
- Working family protection program
- End abuse of temp workers.
- And the one grabbing a lot of attention is a 32-hour work week instead of the traditional 40.
"We have to get back to a standard where we have a quality of life for our members. These are quality-of-life issues," said Fain.
Earlier this week, Ford, GM and Stellantis released statements
Ford's statement:
Temporary workers represent only 3% of our hourly workforce at Ford, and they have a clear career path: Since the 2019 contract, temporary full-time employees are converted to permanent full-time employee status upon the completion of two years’ continuous service. We have converted more than 14,100 temporary employees to permanent status since 2019, including about 3,000 temporary employees that we converted to permanent last summer.
By the end of the current contract, 80% of all Ford’s UAW-represented hourly employees will be at the top wage rate of around $32. That means they will earn higher wages than 90% of all hourly employees in the U.S. auto industry, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Eligible UAW-represented production employees at the top wage rate also received approximately $47,000 in additional compensation during this contract, including a ratification bonus, lump sum performance bonuses, yearly inflation bonus and profit sharing.
Ford is proud to build more vehicles in America and employ more UAW-represented hourly workers in America than any other automaker. We look 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.
Stellantis
Product allocation for our U.S. plants will depend on the outcome of these negotiations as well as a plant’s ability to meet specific performance metrics including improving quality, reducing absenteeism and addressing overall cost. As these decisions are fluid and part of the discussions at the bargaining table, we will not comment further.
GM
“We've been working hard with the UAW every day to ensure we get this agreement right for all our stakeholders. 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 and dealers, the community, our suppliers, and the business.”
