The intensity of the historic strike carried out by auto workers in the United States escalated after two large groups were invited to join the action, which has entered its eighth day, amid fears that it will disrupt production, affect the supply chain, and harm American economic growth.
On Friday, the head of the United Auto Workers union, Sean Fine, announced an invitation to the spare parts distribution centers of General Motors and Stellantis, which number 38 centers distributed in twenty American states, to stop work as of Friday afternoon.
Last week, the United Auto Workers union began unprecedented simultaneous strikes at one assembly plant for General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, but analysts expect any expansion of the strikes to include factories that produce highly profitable pickup trucks such as Ford’s F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado. GM and Ram from Stellantis.
Fine explained that the three factories that have been on strike since September 15, when collective agreements expired without agreement on new ones, will continue their action.
About 12,700 workers went on strike at factories in the states of Missouri, Michigan and Ohio that produce the Ford Bronco, Jeep Wrangler, Chevrolet Colorado and other popular models.
The union president warned that more of the 146,000 union members who work in the three companies in Detroit would join unless new agreements were reached before 1600 GMT on Friday.
The head of the union announced the extension of the strike at the General Motors and Stellantis groups due to the lack of progress in the negotiations, while “real progress” had been made with Ford. He confirmed that a “breach” had been made, but that “serious problems” remained.
The union is demanding a 40 percent increase in salaries over four years, which is equivalent to what the heads of these groups have benefited from over the past four years. The three companies proposed a 20 percent wage increase over four and a half years.
The union called on US President Joe Biden, who supported the strikers on several occasions, to join the action.
Biden had supported a “fair sharing of record profits.” He said on Wednesday that he was “proud” that his government was described as “the most pro-union administration in the history of America.”
The union is also demanding the abolition of the tiered wage structure, which it says has created a huge gap between new and old employees.
Standard & Poor’s said the strikes, which began on September 15, are likely to continue for several weeks, which could cut US third-quarter GDP by 0.39 percent and cause “disruptions” to global auto supply chains.
Earlier, the three companies confirmed that they were making contingency plans to confront further work stoppages in the United States.
2023-09-22 16:46:49
#historic #strike #American #auto #workers #expands
