Ford and GM have temporary layoffs due to the strike
GM and Tesla have champagne now on ice. The real story of the car revolution is on hold as the ‘Big Three’ autoworkers go on strike
The 21-year-old Brandon Szcesniak is a union member at Ford’s Wayne plant. It is like a door that goes back and forth. it’s not a career anymore, it’s a job. How can we buy a Ford on this pay?
Tesla operates its Fremont, California, factory with nonunion labor, as the UAW has struggled to find a toehold at the plant. The National Labor Relations Board accused the company of violating labor law when they barred workers from discussing pay and working conditions. Over the years, OSHA has filed many complaints againstTesla.
The potential nightmare situation for GM and Ford is that they are in the early stages of massive EV transformation path that will define their future success. He added that the “clear winner was… Musk and Tesla with champagne now on ice.”
The United Auto Workers’ Strike on Friday: Implications for Automakers and the Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis Industries
“This is more of a symbolic strike than an actual damaging one,” Sam Fiorani, a production forecaster at AutoForecast Solutions, told Reuters. There were not everyone in agreement.
Some analysts found the strike to be symbolic while others found it to be devastating. The struck plants produce some of the automakers’ most profitable models, including the Ford Bronco, the Jeep Wrangler, and the Chevy Colorado pickup.
The UAW states that the three automakers have made a combined $21 billion in profits over the past six months, and that workers are now asking for their fair share.
At midnight on Friday, the United Auto Workers (UAW) went on strike, imperiling the “Big Three” automakers’ plans to spend billions of dollars on electric vehicles in a bid to catch up to Tesla.
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 three major Detroit automakers at once after failing to reach a deal on pay, pensions and other benefits with the auto companies.
Ford got a counter proposal from the union just hours before the contract expired, but said there was very little movement from the UAW’s previous proposal.
Ford said in a statement that the proposal would more than double the current UAW-related labor costs of the company, which are already significantly higher than non-union labor costs in the United States.
The Problem of GM, the Automakers, and the Consumer: A Primer from GM and the UAW on Labor and Physical Issues
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 biggest problem for GM and Ford is if the wage increase is approved and passed on to the public, this will be a major blow on the cost front, and eventually EV prices will go down as well. “The costs of EV vehicles out of Detroit is a major advantage going after mass adoption with any $3k, $5k, $7k, etc added to the slew of vehicles coming out would results in demand churn in our opinion.”
Ives, who is bullish on Tesla, predicted that a prolonged strike could push the Big Three automakers to agree to major increases in labor costs, which could then be passed along to the consumer.
He thinks he’s going to hold out. “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.
This is not a coincidence. These are vehicles that consumers want and need, and these are plants with production volumes high and efficient.
The striking Stellantis plant makes Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators. Ford Broncos and Rangers are made at the plant. The Chevy Colorado and the two different vans are produced at the GM plant.
Bendert expressed some concern that the $500-a-week strike pay is far less than his regular paycheck. He says that if the UAW delivers the contracts workers deserve, it will be worth it.
UAW Go On Strike For The GMS Stellantis Employees And Fain’s Soft Rhetoric Approach To Workers’ Confidence
Shawn has a good plan and I’m very confident in him. 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.
There was a shared sense of excitement Friday outside the plants on strike, with crowds cheering and chanting, drivers honking in support, and only the occasional heckler shouting at people to get 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 Harvard Law’s Center for Labor and a Just Economy, said that they don’t become at- will employees simply because the contract has expired.
There are a number of comments on the UAW’s Facebook page from people who don’t agree with the idea of a strike. Others voiced concerns that their jobs may be at risk now that their contract has expired.
In an email to union members earlier this week, Fain said it was going to create confusion. “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’ve lost, I feel he should have hit six to 10 major plants and facilities to let them know, ‘Hey, look, this is serious!'”
Jerry Coleman, a long-time temporary employee working 70 hours a week at the Stellantis Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio, has welcomed Fain’s tough rhetoric.
Source: As UAW strike begins, autoworkers want to ‘play hardball’
The UAW strike could have ripple effects across the economy: GM, Stellantis, and Ford — and how the strike could affect the prices of new-cars
Autoworkers’ emotions — from excitement to fear and apprehension — are running high as their union, the United Auto Workers, launches an unprecedented strike against the Big Three automakers.
The UAW has built up a strike fund of $835 million — enough to last about three months if all of the nearly 150,000 unionized autoworkers were on strike. The union will also pay for striking workers’ health insurance.
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 to last a couple of months. GM’s inventory is a little smaller; Stellantis’ inventory is a bit larger. So there’s a cushion, but it won’t last indefinitely.
New-car prices rose 0.3% in August after four months of flat or falling prices. Even though nonunion carmakers will keep cranking out vehicles during the strike, it could lead to more upward pressure on prices.
“This is a small impact, but meaningful in the context of higher oil prices, highermortgage rates, the end of the student loan payment moratorium and a potential government shutdown,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s.
Source: How the UAW strike could have ripple effects across the economy
The Effect of the Autoworkers’ Confrontations with the Recent Auto Workers’ Tariff Strikes and the Transition to Electric Vehicles
The auto industry is less affected by strikes than delivery giant United Parcel Service or freight railroads, which have been hit with strikes in the last year.
The longer the strike goes on, the more it could affect the industry. The walkout comes at a time when autoworkers are already nervous about the massive transition to electric vehicles, which require fewer people to produce.
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.
“Maybe you skip going out to dinner,” says University of Michigan economist Gabe Ehrlich. People say they are prepared for a strike. There’s little you can do to save up for a strike. $500 a week helps. But it’s not making up for a full paycheck.”
General Motors and Ford Workers: Their Strikes Are Why They Are Going To Be Out Of Work And They’ll Lose Their Jobs
The 600 workers were sent home from Ford’s Michigan plant on Friday because of the strike. Citing similar reasons, General Motors has also warned that 2,000 workers at its Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas are expected to be out of work by early next week.
When a factory is idled because of supply chain issues, companies typically give partial pay to its non-striking workers. In this case, Ford and GM said there will be no compensation.
The president of the union said that temporary layoffs are a strategic ploy to speed talks and make sure affected workers continue to have an income.
If the Big Three decide to lay people off who aren’t on strike, they are trying to put the squeeze on our members and try to get them to settle for less,” he said.
Workers at the Michigan Assembly Plant were told not to work on Friday due to the necessary e-coat for components they produce. The paint department at the facility went on strike, as a protection measure, according to Ford.
General Motors similarly said the strike at Wentzville Assembly in Missouri was already having “a negative ripple effect” at the rest of its Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas.
General GM said in a statement that the shortage of criticalstamps supplied to Fairfax is due to Wentzville’s stamping operations. An expired agreement at Fairfax is what we are working under. There are no provisions that allow company-supplied subs in this circumstance.
“With their record profits, they don’t have to lay off any employees.” He said in a statement that they could double the pay of every autoworker, not raise prices, and still make billions of dollars.
