GM and Ford bosses clash with UAW as union expands strikes

DETROIT (Reuters) – The CEOs of General Motors and Ford criticized UAW leaders on Friday and UAW President Sean Fine responded in kind, hours after the union escalated a strike that is now in its third week.

Fine on Friday expanded the first-ever simultaneous strike against the Detroit Three, ordering workers off the job at Ford’s Chicago assembly plant and General Motors’ assembly plant in Lansing, Michigan. He said Stellantis survived after last-minute concessions by Chrysler’s parent company.

GM CEO Mary Barra said late Friday: “Clearly there is no real intention to reach an agreement,” while Ford CEO Jim Farley said the union was holding the deal “hostage” due to a dispute over… Future electric car battery factories. The UAW responded on social media that none of its executives attended the bargaining this week.

“However, Barra and Farley collectively made $50 million last year,” the union added.

The strongly worded personal statements showed increasing frustration with the pace of the negotiations, which are entering their third week.

The UAW’s demands “could have a devastating impact on our business,” Farley said. He said that the dispute centers on wages and benefits in new electric car battery factories that have not yet begun production.

“I don’t know why Jim Farley would lie about the status of negotiations,” Fine said in response. “It may be because he failed to show up to bargain this week, as he has for most of the past 10 weeks.”

The union and companies remain far apart on key economic issues and the CEO’s comments suggest they are no closer to resolving several sticking points. Fine has stuck to the demand for a 40% pay increase over a four-year contract, a position supported this week by President Joe Biden. The companies offered a wage increase of about 20%.

Parra accused Fine of dragging workers into an unnecessary long strike and of trying to “make history for himself” through this action. “Putting our future at risk is something I will not do,” Parra added.

The union continued its deliberate approach to the strike, opting to walk out of just two additional assembly plants — rather than the sweeping effect of the strike at the three most profitable Detroit plants that make pickup trucks.

In addition, the union is trying to maintain a limited strike fund that may come under pressure due to additional strikes at Mack Trucks facilities and casinos in the Detroit area that the UAW also represents.

Sam Fiorani, vice president of the union, said: “The strike is costing the union a lot of money. $500 per worker per week. And with 7,000 additional workers (striking workers) we are talking about more than $12 million per week from the strike fund.” Global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions.

Differences with Ford include retirement benefits and job guarantees, Fine said.

The total number on picket lines rose to 25,000, or about 17% of union members at the three automakers.

Instead of the slam dunk of the mass strike it has historically practiced, the UAW is strategically pitting companies against each other, using waivers from expanded work stoppages as encouragement with various automakers in the past two weeks.

Workers walked out Friday from a Ford assembly plant in Chicago that makes the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator SUVs, as well as a General Motors plant in Lansing that makes the Chevy Traverse and Buick Enclave SUVs.

Farley said the union’s decision to expand strikes at Ford threatens thousands of supplier jobs. He added that many suppliers are “on a knife’s edge” because of the strike that has lasted more than two weeks at the Michigan plant that makes Bronco SUVs and Ranger trucks.

Farley said the UAW president was holding a deal hostage to the fate of electric vehicle battery plants, including three that Ford is building with outside companies and one it planned to own itself in Marshall, Michigan. The UAW wants these workers to be represented by the union and paid the highest wages.

Ford is now reconsidering the size and scope of its $3.5 billion Marshall battery plant, in part because of uncertainty about labor costs, Farley said.

Stellantis also blamed the UAW for failing to reach a new contract.

GM said in an earlier email to employees that it had not yet received a comprehensive counteroffer to its Sept. 21 proposal. “Calling for more strikes is just for headlines, not real progress,” the company said.

Stellantis, which survived the additional strike, said: “We have made progress in our discussions, but gaps remain. We are committed to continuing to work through these issues in an expedited manner.”

Moments before she was scheduled to address members at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT), Stellantis made major changes to her proposal, Fine said. This delayed his announcement by half an hour, saving Stellantis from escalation.

Fine noted progress with Stellantis on cost-of-living allowance payments, as well as the right to strike for product obligations and plant closures. Talks continue at the three companies.

“What Sean Fine wanted was a tit-for-tat exchange: If you’re good to us at the table, we won’t mess with you. If you’re bad to us at the table, we’ll escalate the strike,” said Arthur Wheaton, director of labor studies at Cornell University.

The UAW has been ramping up the pressure over the past two weeks. Workers went on strike on September 15 at one plant each belonging to General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. The union escalated on Sept. 22, when workers quit their jobs at GM and Stellantis distribution facilities in 20 states nationwide.

UAW workers are also threatening to stop working at heavy truck maker Mack Trucks on Sunday, and at three casinos in Detroit. A UAW strike shut down a plant that builds axles for a Mercedes-Benz car plant in Alabama.

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