HARD-LINE UAW PRESIDENT SHAWN FAIN SEEMS TO BE ITCHING for an auto strike beginning at the end of this week, and a walkout seems increasingly likely. This summer of labor unrest — from UPS to Hollywood — may end with a strike that could last into the fall.
UP TO 150,000 AUTO WORKERS could go on strike at midnight on Friday, although it’s unclear whether Fain will order a strike on all of the Big Three; he could target just one firm — General Motors, Ford, or Stellantis, the parent of Chrysler and Jeep.
ANAKYSTS ARE SKEPTICAL that the union would walk off the job at every Big Three factory, noting that the UAW’s $825 million strike fund would run out in under three months if all 150,000 autoworkers went on strike at once.
FAIN’S DEMANDS HAVE BEEN REJECTED: The union is demanding a 40 percent wage increase over four years, shorter working hours and the restoration of many benefits. Auto workers say they’re burned out from working 50 or 60 hour weeks, and they insist that compensation for workers has not kept pace with packages for management.
A PARTICULARLY AUDACIOUS DEMAND from Fain is that workers should be paid for 40 hours a week but only for working for 32 hours a week. And the union wants automakers to stop leaving workers in temporary status for years at a time, which deprives them of full wages and benefits.
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO AUTO PRICES if there’s a strike? Most analysts think prices would not spike immediately; there are plenty of non-UAW-produced vehicles on the market, including Teslas, Hondas, Toyotas and other brands. Also, dealers have some inventory of UAW vehicles stocked up, although there’s short supply of GM’s Tahoe and Yukon SUVs.
HIGH STAKES FOR JOE BIDEN: The embattled president, facing a potential government shutdown on Oct. 1., has stayed out of the UAW negotiations. And Fain, pointedly, has not endorsed Biden for president.
BIDEN’S AIDES CONCEDE, in private, that a strike of several months would cause a large percentage of suppliers to go bankrupt — affecting approximately 345,000 workers. And industries that are tied to autos — including local businesses such as restaurants — would be particularly vulnerable, as workers who walk out would only get $500 in weekly strike pay from the union.
FOR BIDEN, A KEY ISSUE IS EVs, which are not popular in Michigan. GOP frontrunner Donad Trump sees a possibility of winning the state’s 16 electoral votes next year. If you don’t like electric vehicles, Trump told an audience in Michigan last month, “you’d better support Trump.”
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