United Auto Workers Union Strikes Simultaneously at GM, Ford, and Stellantis Factories in the US

(Photo: Getty Images)

After the Hollywood actors’ and screenwriters’ strike, it was the turn of the United Auto Workers of the United States (UAW) to resort to this strategy.

This was the second time the actors and writers went on strike at the same time. They did so in 1960, when the Screen Actors Guild, then chaired by Ronald Reagan, joined the Writers Guild of America. This is the first time that the UAW has launched strikes at the same time in factories of three American manufacturers (GM, Ford and Stellantis). The union initially blocked three factories, but when there was no result, it extended the walkout to other sites.

In another first, Joe Biden was the first president to go to a UAW picket line. For his part, Donald Trump visited a non-union components factory to affirm his support for automobile workers in the face of President Biden’s desire to accelerate the production of electric cars. The UAW, which fears new factories will lose union jobs, reportedly has no members in factories in southern states, where 30 percent of the industry’s jobs are found and where there are so-called anti-union laws. right-to-work.

Another helping factor is that the UAW union is now led by a credible president (Shawn Fain), elected for the first time by popular vote of members, who were fed up with the clique that had taken control. Two ex-presidents have already been convicted of corruption.

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