The US union strips Stellantis, Ford and General Motors
In a delicate moment for American consumption, with Black Friday and Thanksgiving around the corner, the Uaw does not intend to give up on the strike. Ford, General Motors and Stellantis at the mercy of the protests
The families of thousands of American automotive workers this year risk spending Thanksgiving Day in front of the turnstiles of the factories of the three big sisters of the car industry , as the American press calls them, namely Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.
ALL THE NUMBERS OF THE UAW STRIKE
In fact, the strike forcefully advocated by the president of Uaw ( United Automobile Workers ) Shawn Fain continues to spread like wildfire and, we recall, especially in the early stages had been opposed by other long-standing trade unionists, more in favor of holding more cautious. And no one, not even in the Uaw, expected such unity on the workers' front.
According to the latest counts, which take into account the worsening of the situation, especially in Ford, despite the fact that at first the management seemed to be the one most inclined to dialogue, there are as many as 16 thousand employees of the Dearborn company in agitation, ten thousand those who work in GM and 8,000 in the Stellantis American plants.
THE RETALIATIONS OF DETROIT'S BIG THREE
In response, Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, as the number of blocked factories increased, began to put an ever-increasing number of workers on temporary leave: for Ford alone, 2,480 workers were suspended from work, after having encountered arms the workers of Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, the largest plant in the Blue Oval, where Super Duty pick-ups, Expedition SUVs and Lincoln Navigator are produced.
But the number of Ford workers on temporary leave, at least according to the American press, could soon rise to at least 4,600 units located in nine plants, including five in the Detroit metropolitan area. For GM, the blue overalls left at home in one of the most sensitive periods for consumption in the States (just around the corner are the combination of Black Friday and Thanksgiving Day, which effectively mark the start of the Christmas holidays) are around 2,300 and for Stellantis 1,340.
UAW FAIN'S N1 WANTS TO CONTINUE WITH THE STRIKE FOR A LONG TIME
Fain, for his part, does not intend to give up on the strike, convinced that the Uaw can "achieve much more". “We have achieved record results which however come after decades of record reductions,” recalled the union head. “It's not enough, not after auto workers have seen things get worse for twenty years.”
STELLANTIS SEES THE STARS
And the UAW strike would have already brought home many results, if we consider the offer of General Motors, Ford and Stellantis to put their wallets in and provide a 23% increase in hourly wages with the contractual renewal. An offer that was not enough to defuse the agitation and bring the blue overalls back to the assembly line.
One month after the start of hostilities, the repercussions are becoming more and more serious and evident, not only in production. After the decision not to take part in CES 2024 in Las Vegas, Stellantis was also forced to cancel its participation in the Los Angeles Auto Show (from 17 to 27 November) and at SEMA 2023 also in Las Vegas (from 31 October to November 3).
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/il-sindacato-usa-striscia-stellantis-ford-e-general-motors/ on Tue, 24 Oct 2023 13:13:47 +0000.