Members
of
the
United
Auto
Workers
(UAW)
Local
230
and
their
supporters
walk
the
picket
line
in
front
of
the
Chrysler
Corporate
Parts
Division
in
Ontario,
California,
on
September
26,
2023,
to
show
solidarity
for
the
“Big
Three”
autoworkers
currently
on
strike.
Patrick
T.
Fallon
|
AFP
|
Getty
Images
DETROIT
—
The
United
Auto
Workers
union
will
announce
expanded
strikes
at
General
Motors,
Ford
Motor
and
Stellantis
plants
if
the
sides
don’t
make
significant
progress
in
negotiations
by
10
a.m.
ET
Friday,
according
to
a
person
familiar
with
the
matter.
The
new
union-imposed
deadline
comes
a
week
after
the
UAW
announced
it
would
expand
its
initial
Sept.
15
strikes
at
assembly
plants
of
each
of
the
Detroit
automakers
to
38
additional
parts
and
distribution
locations
for
GM
and
Stellantis.
The
UAW
did
not
expand
its
strikes
at
Ford,
citing
progress
in
those
talks.
Like
a
week
earlier,
it’s
expected
that
UAW
President
Shawn
Fain
will
host
a
Facebook
Live
event
to
announce
which
plants
will
walk
out
at
noon
Friday,
barring
progress
in
the
talks.
The strikes
currently
involve about
18,300
workers,
or
12.5%
of
the
UAW’s
146,000
members
whose
labor
contracts
expired
on
Sept.
14.
Fain
previously
said
the
union
planned
to increase
the
work
stoppages,
based
on
how
negotiations
with
the
companies
were
going.
The
union
is
calling
the
work
stoppages
“stand-up
strikes,”
a
nod
to
historic
“sit-down”
strikes
by
the
UAW
in
the
1930s.
watch
now
Spokespeople
for
the
Detroit
automakers
did
not
immediately
respond
for
comment
on
Wednesday.
The
additional
strike
plans
come
despite
record
contract
offers
from
the
automakers
that
include
roughly
20%
hourly
wage
increases,
thousands
of
dollars
in
bonuses,
retention
of
the
union’s
platinum
health
care
and
other
sweetened
benefits.
The
union’s
new
deadline
comes
a
day
after
President
Joe
Biden
joined
Fain
and
union
members,
becoming
the
first
known
sitting
president
to
walk
a
picket
line
with
striking
autoworkers.
Biden
also
voiced
support
for
the
union
and
its
demands,
including
a
40%
wage
increase
during
the
life
of
the
contract.
The
UAW
has
further
demanded
a
shortened
workweek,
a
shift
back
to
traditional
pensions,
the
elimination
of
compensation
tiers
and
a
restoration
of
cost-of-living
adjustments,
among
other
improvements.
Unlike
past
strikes,
UAW
leaders
opted
for
targeted
strikes
at
select
plants
instead
of
initiating
national
walkouts.
The
strategy
is
in
an
effort
to
keep
the
automakers
on
edge
in
an
effort
to
pit
them
against
one
another
to
achieve
better
contracts,
according
to
private
messages
leaked
last
week
involving
UAW
communications
director
Jonah
Furman.
The
messages,
which
described
a
strategy to
cause
“recurring
reputations
damage
and
operational
chaos”
for
the
companies,
were
heavily
criticized
by
the
automakers.
