As the strike expands, UAW and Detroit 3 insults intensify

UAW President Shawn Fain, bolstered by a historic show of support by U.S. President Joe Biden, ramped up pressure on the Detroit 3 last week as frustrations on both sides of the bargaining table spilled into view amid the ongoing strike.

The union sent 7,000 more workers in Michigan and Illinois onto picket lines Friday after progress stalled with Ford Motor Co. and no significant headway was made with General Motors. A last-minute offer by Stellantis prompted Fain to call off a new walkout against that company.

Ford CEO Jim Farley accused Fain of holding the automakers "hostage" over issues related to electric vehicle battery plants. Farley said the union leader wasn't being upfront with his membership about what Ford is offering them and warned that the UAW's demands could push jobs and production of vehicles such as the Explorer out of the U.S. GM and Stellantis denied Fain's accusations that they had enabled violence against picketing workers, with GM complaining that Fain escalated the strike last week to make headlines rather than in the interest of reaching an agreement.

Fain, in return, said Farley was "lying about the state of negotiations" and blamed Ford for holding up talks. While the companies continued to hammer the union over leaked messages saying it wanted to keep them "wounded for months," Fain said he's been open to making deals since before the strike started Sept. 15.

"Bargaining's always a two-way street," he said Friday outside UAW headquarters. "We've been willing to move on things, we've made movement on things, we've tried to accommodate some of the concerns the companies have had. But at the end of the day, then they seem to move the goal line. We come back with something and they want to move the goal posts again."

The union last week expanded the strike to include Ford's Explorer factory in Chicago and a GM crossover plant near Lansing, Mich. The addition brought the number of workers on strike to about 25,000, or 17 percent of UAW membership at the automakers.

The companies contended that the expansion wasn't necessary.

"If the UAW's goal is a record contract, they have already achieved this," Farley said shortly after the walkout expanded. "It is grossly irresponsible to escalate these strikes and hurt thousands of families."

Farley argued that giving the union everything it wants would endanger the jobs Fain is fighting for.

"A bad deal would threaten midsize or expensive larger vehicles like Escape and Explorer," Farley said. "We'd have to choose to cut future investments in those products, restructure and reduce our head count throughout the company, including UAW workers."

Although Fain suggested that Ford and the union had made progress on wages and benefits, he later said they remained "far apart on core economic proposals" including retirement benefits and job security.

Farley said the union was holding up talks over the EV battery plants. A source in the UAW said the union wanted "job security in the EV transition" and that it was "flexible on what that looks like."

Ford plans to build four battery plants, three of which would be joint ventures. The company halted construction last week at a fourth plant, in Marshall, Mich. , and Farley warned that the ultimate size of what had been billed as a $3.5 billion project could depend on whether Ford signs a competitive UAW contract.

The union's cause received national attention last week when Biden became the first sitting U.S. president in modern history to walk a picket line. A day later, former President Donald Trump visited a nonunion auto supplier in suburban Detroit to rail against the industry's transition to EVs and ask for the union's endorsement.

While visiting with UAW members on strike at a GM parts depot, Biden said he supported the union's demand for raises totaling 40 percent over the next four years.

"You deserve what you've earned, and you've earned a hell of a lot more than you're getting paid," he told the workers.

Meanwhile, Trump told an invited group of supporters that EVs would "spell the death of the U.S. auto industry" because they cost too much and consumers don't want them.

Fain has yet to make an endorsement in the presidential race, but he declined to meet with Trump.

"When we win this fight ... it won't be because of any president," Fain said. "It will be because ordinary people did extraordinary things. Our solidarity is our strength, and right now, our strength is the hope of working-class people everywhere."

Fain has cast the ongoing strike as a broader battle against employers that are profitable but stingy.

"Our anger is righteous and our struggle is just," Fain said Friday. "We are fed up with corporate greed and we're fed up with corporate excess. We're fed up with breaking our bodies for companies who take more and more and give less and less."

On the newly formed picket line at GM's Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave plant, workers echoed Fain's comments.

Isaiah Fuller, vice president of UAW Local 602, has worked at the Lansing-Delta Township plant since 2013. He said many employees live paycheck to paycheck and want better protection against inflation.

Yet the strike is not just about GM and the other automakers, Fuller said.

"This is about the middle class," he said. "The middle class has been stagnant for a long time and hasn't been able to keep up as a whole. So we're not just taking on the Big 3. We're taking on the fight for the middle class, and we hope that they join us."

Ryan Eding, Local 602's shop chairman, said he hired in as a temporary worker in 2006 and became a full-time employee after two years. He wants to see the wage structure flattened so all employees are paid the same.

"Equal pay for equal work is very necessary," Eding said. "When I hired in, I was working next to the individual that was making top rate and I was making $14 an hour. It wasn't necessary. We were willing to take that to help make the company survive, and hoped it'd be returned to us in the future, and it hasn't been yet."

In addition to the five assembly plants where the UAW is on strike, 38 sites that ship critical parts to GM and Stellantis dealers remained shut down by pickets, threatening retailers' lucrative service business.

Nyle Maxwell, chairman of the Stellantis National Dealer Council, said he hopes to see more progress in the negotiations and fewer verbal attacks.

Maxwell, who owns four Stellantis stores in central Texas, said when the strike started that it would need to last 30 to 45 days to put a crunch on Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator inventory at his stores. The Ohio plant that makes those vehicles was among the first three where workers went on strike.

Maxwell said his dealerships began stocking up on "fast-moving parts" such as brake calipers two months ago in case the distribution centers went offline.

"From here on out, any additional strike targets are just going to cripple the entire supply chain and hurt our dealer body," Maxwell said. "What I'm most concerned about, as you can imagine, is the well-being of 2,600 Stellantis dealers in this country. Hopefully, there's some more strategic thinking and less bluster from now on. I think that would behoove Stellantis and the UAW if that were to happen."

Vince Bond Jr. and Lindsay VanHulle contributed to this report.