Claire Herquet, Staff
Previous UAW strike via wiki media commons
Following suit with the Writers Guild of America this past summer, the United Auto Workers (UAW) has escalated its strike actions with their employers on Sept. 22, as they have struggled to reach a deal with Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis. America is coming to what could be one of the biggest labor conflicts of the century between the "big three" automobile companies.
The auto industry is a big piece of the US economy. Being the largest manufacturing sector and employing 150,000 UAW workers wanting higher wages, the union is striking all three companies at the same time, which has never happened before.
After decades of back-and-forth conflict with the union, once again their autoworkers need resources to invest in electric vehicles in order to have a chance to fight the competition they have against the global market. If negotiation does not take place, automakers may be facing a loss of billions of dollars worth of revenue and profit, along with the consequence of local economies brought to a standstill.
Over the weekend, it has been an uphill battle for Ford and the UAW, making arrangements with their financial crisis and putting a stop to the strike; with GM and Stellantis, the union has expanded its strike to 38 additional locations.
Thankfully, the striking UAW workers received some support from US Senator. Dick Derbin on Monday morning. "Nobody wants a strike, but nobody wants conditions to remain the same and not change. They want these workers to have a fighting chance for a decent living in the future and building on the American dream," Durbin said.
While negotiating with the big three, the union is observing the automakers' profits in comparison to its CEO's pay, as it displays an increase in wages of around 36%. The companies have offered just shy of half that amount to make a change and have their employees come back to work.
The union has responded saying they cannot take the wage increase proposal because they need to invest in the appropriate profits needed, in accordance with the big change of working on gas-powered vehicles to electric vehicles. Many of them have even turned away from the suggestion of being paid for five-day work weeks while only working four-day work weeks, which is a significant increase in payment.
US Presidents and senators often show up at the scenes of strikes to try to mediate the situation or show their solidarity with their workers, however President Joe Biden has been very open about being on the side of the laborers. Biden has joined the UAW picket line as of Tuesday morning, appearing in Detroit on the strike's twelfth day.
"I think the UAW gave up an incredible amount back when the automobile industry was going under. They gave everything from their pensions on, and they saved the automobile industry," Biden stated at the White House. The Biden administration has no role or association with the negotiations.
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