UAW chief says strike likely; Ford CEO questions union’s effort to reach deal

The UAW will strike certain Detroit 3 plants starting early Friday without new agreements in place, President Shawn Fain said, but two of the automakers said they haven’t gotten responses from the union to their latest offers.

Fain, during a livestream Wednesday afternoon, called proposals giving raises of up to 20 percent insulting and said the union would begin announcing the first plants to be targeted by strikes at 10 p.m. EDT on Thursday — two hours before its current contracts expire. He has called the strategy, which the UAW has never used against all three automakers simultaneously, a “stand-up strike,” similar to the sit-down strikes in the early days of the union.

"The stand-up strike will keep the companies guessing," Fain said. "It's going to rely on discipline, organization and creativity. I do believe the beauty of the stand-up strike is that it provides us the maximum flexibility moving forward to have the most effective means of striking that we can put forth to get the best result for our membership."

Fain said a full-on strike against every plant also was still possible.

Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler parent Stellantis, in separate statements Wednesday evening, said the UAW had not responded to offers they presented Tuesday before Fain criticized them on his broadcast. Ford CEO Jim Farley said the company had put four “increasingly generous” offers on the table since Aug. 29 and had yet to receive “any genuine counteroffer.”

Farley, speaking later to reporters at the Detroit auto show, noted that Fain was not present when he and Executive Chair Bill Ford met with the union’s bargainers.

“There’s still time left,” Farley said. “Whether there’s room in there or not, we won’t know if we don’t get feedback. We don’t understand why we can’t get feedback to make this deal to forge the future.”

Asked if the UAW was negotiating in bad faith, Farley asked rhetorically: “How can you negotiate if you don’t get a well considered, genuine counteroffer?”

General Motors said in its own statement that it has submitted multiple “strong offers.”

“We are making progress in key areas that we believe are most important to our represented team members,” GM said. "This includes historic guaranteed annual wage increases, investments in our U.S. manufacturing plants to provide opportunities for all, and shortening the time for in-progression employees to reach maximum wages.”

Fain, on his livestream, revealed details of the automakers' most recent proposals. The latest proposed wage increases are 20 percent from Ford, 18 percent from General Motors and 17.5 percent from Stellantis. All three would cut in half the time it takes new hires to earn top wages to four years, down from eight years today.

The companies differ on the temporary worker issue, according to the union. Fain said Ford is offering to convert all current temps with 90 days of continuous service into full-time status. GM, he said, was offering “inadequate benefits, no profit-sharing and a meager wage increase,” while Stellantis had a similar offer to GM with “no path to full-time” status.

Regarding cost-of-living adjustments, the union said Ford was willing to restore an old COLA formula but noted it would offer wage protection of “less than $1 over the next four and a half years.” He said GM and Stellantis were offering a formula that would provide zero wage protection over the course of the next contract.

He also said the profit-sharing formulas offered by the companies would be less generous than they are today.

He said all three continue to reject all of the union’s “job security,” “work-life balance” and retiree priorities. The job security priorities include reinstating a jobs bank that would continue to pay workers when they’re laid off, and the work-life balance proposal calls for a four-day work week at five days' worth of pay.

"We're making progress at each of the three negotiating tables, but we're still very far apart on our key priorities," Fain said. "We do not yet have offers on the table that reflect the sacrifice and contributions our members have made to these companies."

Fain spoke in grandiose terms on the livestream, quoting Scripture and famed former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, to rally members for what he called "our righteous fight."

He argued the Detroit 3 could “double our wages” and still be profitable, saying the companies and corporate media wanted “to scare us into thinking workers are the problem.”

He framed the push for a better labor contract as a battle between the working class and rich.

"This is our defining moment, and it’s time we go to work," he said.

“Making bold demands and organizing to fight for them is an act of faith,” he said. “These corporations are mountains. Together we can make these mountains move.”