The automotive strike could “be amplified” in the United States | Warning from the president of the United Auto Workers union

2023-09-18 01:17:05

The strike that began on Friday at the three major US automakers could “expand” if the companies refuse to make better wage offers, warned the president of the sector’s workers’ union, Shawn Fain. The leader of the United Auto Workers (UAW) is demanding a 36 percent pay increase over the next four years.

In an interview with CBS, Fain said that General Motors, Ford and Stellantis (the former Chrysler) “have no excuses” for not resolving salary disputes given their enormous profits in recent years. “They have forgotten us for decades,” said the union leader and explained that the workers they represent are “fed up.”

Talks between the union and the three big companies in the city of Detroit were reactivated on Saturday to end the strike. At the moment three plants are stopped: one of General Motors in Wentzville (Missouri), another of Stellantis in Toledo (Ohio) and a Ford subsidiary in Wayne (Michigan).

Stellantis raised its offer and proposes an increase of “almost 21 percent” during the four years of validity of the new collective agreement, compared to 14.5 percent a week ago.

For Fain, such an offer is far from enough and he understands that employees deserve the same 40 percent salary increase granted to the manufacturers’ managers, although he reiterated that the union agreed to lower its demand to 36 percent in four years.