The engine is seized, and there is a risk of oil staining. The president of the powerful United Auto Workers union Shaw Fain announced on Friday the extension of the strike at manufacturers General Motors and Stellantis, due to lack of progress in negotiations, while “real progress” has been made with Ford.
The trade unionist specified that the 38 spare parts distribution centers of General Motors and Stellantis, located in twenty states in the United States, were called to stop work from noon this Friday. The three factories already on strike since September 15, when the collective agreements expired without agreement for the next ones, will remain on strike, he added.
First strike in history affecting all three manufacturers simultaneously
These three sites – one for each of the Big Three manufacturers – employ some 12,700 of the 146,000 union members working for the “Big Three”. This is the first strike affecting all three groups at the same time. Regarding Ford, Shawn Fain indicated that there had been “movement” but that “serious problems” persisted. Furthermore, on Friday he invited American President Joe Biden, who has supported the strikers on several occasions, to join a strike picket.
Joe Biden notably pleaded for a “fair” sharing of “record profits”. And he said he was “proud” Wednesday that his government “is described as the most pro-union administration in American history.” He wore a red tie to the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week in solidarity with the strikers, the White House said. The union is demanding in particular a salary increase of 40% over four years, corresponding to that which the group leaders have benefited from over the last four years.