Oct. 6 (UPI) — UAW President Shawn Fain will deliver remarks Friday afternoon on the 22-day strike against Detroit’s Big Three automakers.
The UAW did not publicly disclose details of what Fain would discuss during the 2 p.m. EDT livestream, but he was expected to share “substantive bargaining updates” on its talks with GM, Ford and Stellantis ahead of a UAW solidarity rally set for Saturday in Chicago.
The UAW seeks record contracts for its members in an era of record-high U.S. automaker profits.
GM said Wednesday the strike so far has cost the company about $200 million, as it made a sixth offer to the UAW this week after meeting with Fain Wednesday at the UAW’s Solidarity House in Detroit.
“We can confirm that we provided a counter offer to the UAW’s most recent proposal — our sixth since the start of negotiations. We believe we have a compelling offer that would reward our team members and allow GM to succeed and thrive into the future. We continue to stand ready and willing to negotiate in good faith 24/7 to reach an agreement,” GM said in a statement to the Detroit Free Press.
Ford said Tuesday it made a “comprehensive” offer to the UAW that included a 26% pay increase over the four years that would convert all temporary employees to permanent status within 90 days of hire.
Ford’s offer would also restore the traditional cost of living allowance the UAW wants and eliminate pay tiers that pay starting workers less than veteran workers. But it still falls short of what the UAW is demanding and says its members deserve.
Last Friday Fain expanded the strike, calling an additional 7,000 Ford and GM workers in Chicago and Michigan to the picket lines.
The Big Three automakers have claimed the UAW demands to match record company profits with record contracts aren’t sustainable for them to remain profitable.
But Fain and the UAW rank and file insist they deserve more and that the companies can afford to pay them now to make up for major concessions the UAW made when the Detroit Three were in financial crisis in 2008.
