New union blow in the motor strike in the United States. The workers of the largest Stellantis factory in the country have joined the call and have unexpectedly paralyzed this Monday the Sterling Heights assembly plant, where the RAM 1500 truck is manufactured, a very profitable best-seller for the group. With the 6,800 employees who have joined today, there are already more than 40,000 workers in the first motor strike in the United States that simultaneously affects the Big Three of the Detroit motor industry: General Motors, Ford and Stellantis (which absorbed Chrysler).
The move comes just days after UAW union president Shawn Fain detailed the automakers’ current proposals, highlighting shortcomings he saw in Stellantis’ latest offer. Fain has been using a carrot and stick strategy in the strike based on developments in negotiations.
“Despite having the highest revenues, the highest profits (in North America and worldwide), the highest profit margins and the largest cash reserves, Stellantis is behind Ford and General Motors when it comes to lawsuits.” of their UAW workers. Currently, Stellantis has on the table the worst proposal in terms of salary progression, remuneration of temporary workers and conversion to full time, cost of living adjustments (COLA), etc.”, The union has justified itself in a statement.
American law does not establish a strike notice, so the union hits companies by surprise when it wants. Initially, it gave at least a couple of hours’ notice, but two weeks ago it entered a phase of surprise strikes that are announced once they have already started. Additionally, since announcements were made regularly on Fridays, the union believes companies began slowing down negotiation until just before each deadline.
The first surprise strike was launched against Ford’s iconic and highly profitable Kentucky truck plant on October 11, when some 8,700 UAW members walked off the job at 6:30 p.m. and closed the Louisville plant ( Kentucky). The play is now repeated with the Stellantis plant.
The motor strike began on September 15 with the stoppage of a factory of each company that totaled about 14,000 of the nearly 150,000 workers unionized with the UAW who work in the three groups. It was the General Motors plant in Wentzville (Missouri), which manufactures the GMC Canyon and the Colorado; another from Ford in Wayne (Michigan), which assembles the Bronco model and the Ranger truck, and a third from Jeep, from Stellantis, in Toledo (Ohio), where the Gladiator and Wrangler models come from.
The following week, union leader Shawn Fain called out nearly 6,000 other workers from 28 Stellantis and GM distribution centers spread across 20 states, saving Ford from being burned for having shown greater willingness to negotiate. However, on Friday, September 29, the union leader called 7,000 additional UAW workers to strike at two plants: the Ford plant in Chicago (Illinois), where the Explorer and Lincoln Aviator models are produced, and the Lansing Delta plant. of GM in Lansing (Michigan), which assembles the Buick Enclave and the Chevrolet Traverse, leaving Stellantis aside this time. With the surprise strikes at Ford’s most profitable plant and now Stellantis’s largest, it has indirectly been GM that seems to have been spared for the moment from this latest round.
Follow all the information Economy and Business in Facebook and xor in our weekly newsletter
The Five Day Agenda
The most important economic quotes of the day, with the keys and context to understand their scope.
RECEIVE IT IN YOUR EMAIL
#workers #largest #Stellantis #factory #join #motor #strike #surprise