Sept. 14 (UPI) — The Detroit Three automakers — Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Stellantis — have moved labor contract negotiations to the headquarters of the powerful United Auto Workers union as the deadline for a strike looms just hours away.
The automakers decided to make the venue change Wednesday ahead of the 11:59 p.m. deadline Thursday, the Detroit Free Press reported.
The eleventh-hour agreement for a venue change saves some time on the clock by keeping union boss Shawn Fain from having to drive between the headquarters for the three automakers, each dozens of miles away from each other.
The negotiations appear to be making some progress, and GM has since put another economic offer on the table, indicating the company is ready to negotiate all the way to the deadline. According to The Detroit News, that offer included a wage increase of 20%.
Fain detailed the plans for the strike during a Facebook Live stream Wednesday night and has assured that there will be no contract extension. The rolling strike would first target only certain assembly plants and parts distribution centers and add more in waves as negotiations continue.
The union boss is expected to tell members if there is a contract or which local branches would walk out. Fain has indicated that the union could strike all three automakers at once rather than striking just one company. However, the union’s fund to pay striking workers would be expected to be depleted much quicker on that path.
If the union reaches a deal with one of the three companies, members are not expected to strike at that automaker, sources told the Detroit Free Press.
Economists with the University of Michigan have alleged that the state would face economic fallout with more than 300,000 people not receiving a paycheck if the union strikes all three carmakers for eight weeks.
It was not immediately clear if any economists had researched the economic impact the other way around, if the three automakers meet the demands of the union and the strike is averted.
“We expect the economic spillovers from a strike by the UAW against one or more of the Detroit Three automakers to start out modestly but grow over time if the strike drags on,” said Gabriel Ehrlich, an economist on the forecasting team.
“Our assessment is that a strike along the lines of what we saw in 2019, against a single automaker and lasting around six weeks, would not fundamentally alter the trajectory of Michigan’s economy, although it would certainly be disruptive in the short run.”
Susan Tompor, a business columnist for the Detroit Free Press, wrote in an op-ed that the job losses “would be brutal” and “unlike any other in history” because the plan for rolling strikes would cause much more uncertain and unpredictable disruptions.
Economists have suggested that suppliers to the Detroit Three automakers could also be affected by the strike, though industry experts expect such suppliers to try to avoid layoffs as long as possible.
The University of Michigan forecast predicts more than a million people could lose their jobs nationwide after an eight-week strike at all three carmakers.
An analysis from the Anderson Economic Group, a company that has previously consulted with the Detroit Three, has predicted that the total economic loss from a strike could reach more than $5 billion after just ten days.
“When the UAW went on strike against GM in 2019, Michigan experienced a single quarter recession,” AEG principal and chief executive Patrick Anderson said in a statement.
Fain has dismissed corporate arguments that a rise in hourly wages would lead to a rise in car prices, as well as damage the economy.
