The United Auto Workers will expand its strikes against Detroit automakers General Motors and Chrysler parent Stellantis, but has made progress in talks with Ford Motor, the union said on Friday.
“We’re not going to wait around forever for a big contract at the Big Three,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a livestream, noting that while “Ford is showing that they’re serious about reaching a deal, at GM and Stellanis, it’s a different story.”
“Both companies are still offering a deficient cost of living allowance — zero increases over the next four years,” Fain said.
The union boss also said that both GM and the Jeep-maker “rejected all of our job security proposals and profit-sharing proposals” and refused to eliminate wage tiers.
Fain called on workers at all GM and Stellantis parts distribution plants to hit the picket lines beginning at noon EST — the deadline for Detroit’s Big Three to make “significant progress” in its negotiations with the union.
The plants targeted on Friday include 38 locations across 20 states and all nine UAW regions, and “the plants that are already on strike will stay on strike,” Fain said, referring to the thousands of workers at a GM factory in Wentzville, Mo., and a Stellantis Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio, that had already walked out.
Union members will shut down GM and Stellantis’ plants until they “come to their senses and come to the table with a serious offer,” Fain said.
“It’s time to hit the picket lines across the country. It’s time to show the companies that we are united and we are fired up and we are ready for a record contract. It’s time to stand up against corporate greed. It’s time to stand up for our communities. UAW family — I’ll see you on the picket line.”
Stellantis did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment. GM declined to comment until the UAW’s noon deadline.
Fain, however, did not call for walkouts at any of Ford’s plants after the F-150 producer agreed to ditch wage tiers at its Rawsonville Components and Sterling Axle plants, “reinstate a cost of living allowance that was suspended in 2009” and provide “additional job securities in the event of a layoff.”
Ford also “gave unionized workers the right to strike over plant closures,” the first time in the UAW’s 88-year history that it reached this agreement with an employer.
Fain said they have more work to do at Ford, but “we do want to recognize that Ford is showing they’re serious about reaching a deal.”
“Ford is working diligently with the UAW to reach a deal that rewards our workforce and enables Ford to invest in a vibrant and growing future,” a spokesperson for the automaker told The Post.
“Although we are making progress in some areas, we still have significant gaps to close on the key economic issues. In the end, the issues are interconnected and must work within an overall agreement that supports our mutual success.”
The union will invite President Joe Biden to come to the picket lines. The president has been vocal in his support for the union’s demands for better pay and benefits.
About 13,000 UAW union members began their strike last Friday at three major assembly plants across Detroit’s Big Three auto manufacturers. The union was originally asking for a 46% pay raise, a 32-hour work week and benefits for office workers.
Initial counteroffers made by Ford, GM and Stellantis reportedly offered raises marking a 20% increase over four years, though the union said it wasn’t willing to accept pay raise percentages below the 30%.
The Big Three grew their inventories in August in anticipation of this strike, though a halt of operations at this scale will no doubt impact consumers.
Americans looking to purchase a car could start feeling the squeeze.
Rob Handfield, a business professor at North Carolina State University, predicts a month-long strike could lead to a roughly 10% increase in vehicle prices with hikes depending on the make and model.
“If it goes for a month or more, that might start eating into their inventory and when dealers start having fewer cars on the lot, you’re likely to see prices go up at that point,” Handfield told The Post on Tuesday. “They could go up as much as 10%.”
“The Big Three have fixed prices they provide to dealers, but that’s separate from the price the dealers charge,” Handfield continued. “The UAW is trying to hit the plants that have the most expensive vehicles – the trucks and the SUVs – they’re really trying to hurt them as much as they can.”
Tom Maoli, a Ford dealership owner in New Jersey, expects to raise his prices by 20% once the strike continues for two weeks, which would mean Maoli could hike costs as early as Sept. 29.
“Inventories on lots of dealerships will start drying up as they get sold and there won’t be enough cars to go around,” Maoli told CBS News, noting that car parts will actually be the “biggest issue.”
“That means tires, brakes, anything you need to change and keep your car running.”
With Post wires