Potential UAW Strike Could Be A Big Nightmare For Detroit’s Big 3 Automakers

Negotiations will remain active for one more week between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Detroit’s big three automakers: Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis. If neither party is able to reach an agreement, then the UAW will be going on strike until their demands are met.

While the heightened price tags for new cars have brought great profit gains to many major automakers, the possibility of a worker’s strike against Detroit’s big three would become a “potential nightmare situation”, according to Fortune.com.

What Are The UAW’s Demands?

Specifically, the union is looking for a 46% pay raise, a 32-hour work week with the pay of a 40-hour week, and restoration of traditional pensions for new hires.

UAW President Shawn Fain says that the union will be ready to start forming picket lines against all three automakers if a reasonable deal is not met by September 14th. “We’re willing to listen when they’re willing to get real and then talk about our workers’ issues,” Fain told FOX2 Detroit.

UAW members are set to meet with GM on Thursday, September 7th. They have also given a counter-proposal to Ford Motor Company, and they expect to receive a separate proposal from Stellantis this week.

So far, Ford has praised the raises of almost 8,000 employees involved with the UAW that were negotiated back in 2019, and continues to communicate with union members for their 2023 deal that they’ve nicknamed “23 Jump Street.”

The union had declined Ford’s offer earlier this year, which would have included a 15% combined increase in wages and benefits over the course of an hourly worker’s contract. Wages would see an increase of nearly $80,000 last year to $92,000 in the first year of the deal, but UAW leaders responded by saying that it was not a fair agreement.