Updated: UAW expands strike on Ford, GM

The United Auto Workers union expanded its strike against Ford and General Motors at noon Sept. 29, as workers at assembly plants in Illinois and Michigan joined the picket lines.

Stellantis, UAW President Shawn Fain said, was spared following what he called “significant progress” in discussion on issues including cost of living allowance, the right not to cross a picket line, and the right to strike over product amendments, plant closures and outsourced moratoriums.

“We are excited about this momentum at Stellantis and hope it continues,” Fain said on a Facebook Live broadcast.

On Oct. 6, no additional facilities were added to the strike. 

In all, 7,000 unionized workers at Ford’s Chicago and GM’s Lansing Delta Township assembly plants joined the strike Sept. 29. The escalation brings the total number of workers on strike against the Detroit 3 to about 25,000, or 17 percent of the UAW's membership at the auto makers.

"Our courageous members at these two plants (in Chicago and Lansing) are the next wave of reinforcements in our fight for record contracts," Fain said. 

The Chicago plant builds the Ford Explorer, Police Interceptor Utility and Lincoln Aviator.

The Lansing plant assembles the Buick Enclave and Chevrolet Traverse.

Automotive News notes that the shutdown of Explorer and Aviator production, particularly, could be especially painful for Ford. The auto maker only recently restarted production there after a recall-induced stop-sale idled the plant for months. Friday’s strike escalation marks the second in the UAW strike, which launched Sept. 15 and is entering its third week. And the strike is historic, being the first that the union has targeted at all three of the Detroit-based auto makers simultaneously.

“You know this is something we have never done in history before, bargaining with all three companies at the same time," Fain told reporters Friday afternoon from outside the UAW headquarters. "So there is going to be back and forth, and last-minute things happen.”

This week, that last-minute thing was progress with Stellantis. Last week, the progress had been with Ford.

The union spared Ford from a strike expansion Sept. 22, but added the Chicago assembly facility on Sept. 29, because progress with negotiations at Ford went backward, Fain told reporters.

“There were things we needed to make progress on and we didn’t, you know?” Fain said. “They led us to believe we were getting there, and we weren’t. We have to assess things daily as we bargain and talk, and plan the next steps.”

Fain emphasized that the negotiations with all three of the auto makers will continue. But in speaking directly to the members of the union on the Facebook broadcast, he also reinforced his commitment to fighting for key issues on which they refuse to give ground—including tiered wages, cost of living and temporary workers.

“To be clear, negotiations haven’t broke down,” Fain said Friday morning during the Facebook broadcast. “We are still talking with all three companies. And I am still very hopeful we can reach a deal that reflects the incredible sacrifices and contributions our employees have made over the last decade.

“… As the President of the United States recently put it, the UAW members saved the automobile industry back in 2008 when we made a lot of sacrifices. We gave up a lot when the companies were in trouble. But they are doing incredibly well. And guess what? We should be doing incredibly well, too.”

Meanwhile, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's office called for a swift resolution to the strike.

"The prospect of a prolonged strike combined with a federal shutdown is the greatest threat to the American economy, future job growth, and our state’s fiscal health if a deal is not made soon," Zack Pohl, the governor's deputy chief of staff, said in a statement.

He went on to note that a prolonged strike could impact the state's ability to attract more manufacturing jobs, especially as it works to repeal "right-to-work" laws.

"All of this work and our ability to attract future union jobs is in jeopardy if the impacts of the strike on this industry grow," he said. "The governor will always have working people’s backs, which is why we need to get a deal done ASAP, so everyone can get back to work making the best cars and trucks in the world.

"Time is of the essence."

Fain, likewise, told reporters that the union wants to see negotiations resolve quickly.

“We’re trying to get agreements done,” Fain said outside of the UAW headquarters Friday afternoon. “We don’t want our members to be out here on the picket line. We want them in the factory making great products for people to buy.”

General Motors CEO Mary Barra questioned if that the case. In a statement issued Sept. 29, she said "it's clear that there is no real intent to get to an agreement.”

“Since negotiations started this summer, we’ve been available to bargain 24/7 on behalf of our represented team members and our company,” Barra said. “They’ve demanded a record contract–and that’s exactly what we’ve offered for weeks now: a historic contract with record wage increases, record job security and world-class health care. It’s an offer that rewards our team members but does not put our company and their jobs at risk.

"Jeopardizing our future is something I will not do.”

Marisa Marcinkowski and Lindsay VanHulle Automotive News Staff; and David Eggert, Crain's Detroit Business Staff, contributed to this report.