UAW in the US: "GM and Stellantis Strike Expands... Ford Excluded"

The United Auto Workers (UAW) declared an expansion of their strike just one week after negotiations with the U.S. auto industry showed no progress.

On the 22nd (local time), UAW President Shawn Fain announced in a speech to union members broadcast live on Facebook at 10 a.m. that starting at noon, the strike would expand to 38 parts distribution centers (PDCs) of General Motors (GM) and Stellantis across 20 states.

However, Ford was excluded from this strike expansion due to progress in negotiations. President Fain stated, "Although significant issues remain to be resolved, I want to acknowledge that Ford is negotiating seriously to reach an agreement," adding, "The union and Ford have made progress on partially eliminating the tiered wage system, restoring cost-of-living adjustments, and improving profit-sharing methods."

But Fain added, "GM and Stellantis are a different story."

If the strike halts the supply of repair parts from the parts distribution centers, it is expected that customers will face increased inconvenience, such as delays in vehicle deliveries at GM and Stellantis service centers.

Parts distribution centers serve as logistics hubs supplying repair parts to dealerships that provide vehicle sales and repair services.

Ford stated in a press release that day, "We are working to reach an agreement with the UAW," but added, "There remain significant differences on key economic issues."

This decision to expand the strike comes just one week after the UAW began striking at the three major automakers' plants. The UAW has demanded a 36% wage increase over four years and initiated simultaneous strikes at one plant each of the three major U.S. automakers starting on the 15th. This is the first time the union has struck simultaneously at the three major U.S. automakers' plants.

At the start of last week's strike, about 12,700 members, approximately 9% of the total 146,000 union members, participated. With this expansion of strike sites, an additional 5,600 workers will join the strike.

The union had previously warned that if there was no "significant progress" in negotiations by noon on the 22nd, they would expand the strike to more plants.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.