TOLEDO, Ohio — United Auto Workers Shawn Fain on Friday announced will expand the strike against U.S. automakers.
He said union workers at 38 more General Motors and Stellantis parts-distribution facilities would go on strike at noon. This will affect an additional 3,475 workers from General Motors and 2,150 Stellantis workers.
"We should be able to come to an agreement. There are a lot of people, I'm sure, that feel the same way I do. I want to work," said Tom Cole, a UAW member at the Toledo Assembly Complex who has been striking for over a week. "This isn't helping anybody, but we need to get our point out. Of all the money that corporations are making, they need to share the wealth and we are due for more raises and better benefits."
The stand-up strike now will include parts-distribution centers in 20 states, though the list does not include Toledo's GM Propulsion Systems plant.
"Obviously going on strike is not something we take lightly and it's not something we do without a clear strategy to win," Fain said.
Fain praised Toledo UAW workers and others who have been on strike for a week.
"They have showed us leadership, courage and creativity," he said.
The workers at the Toledo Assembly Complex, who went on strike last Friday along with workers at a Missouri GM plant and a Detroit-area Ford plant, will remain off the job, Fain said.
"It makes me feel good that we're going to have the support from other locals and distributions and parts plants," said Don Krulez of the Toledo Assembly Complex. "But it's bad for the economy and everyone's going to feel this around the country, not just Toledo or Michigan, it's going to be felt everywhere."
The expansion does not target more Ford plants because it has made progress in negotiations since the strike began, yielding several key victories: the right to strike over plant closures, cost-of-living increases and the end of the tiered wage system, Fain said.
That same progress has not been made with GM and Stellantis.
At the top of the priority list in the talks is ending the tiered wage system that has paid newer workers less, Fain said.
Ford offered a response to the second round of strikes in the following statement:
"Ford is working diligently with the UAW to reach a deal that rewards our workforce and enables Ford to invest in a vibrant and growing future. Although we are making progress in some areas, we still have significant gaps to close on the key economic issues. In the end, the issues are interconnected and must work within an overall agreement that supports our mutual success."
A statement issued by GM at 1 p.m. on Friday criticized the UAW for escalating the strike:
"Today’s strike escalation by the UAW’s top leadership is unnecessary. The decision to strike an additional 18 of our facilities, affecting more than 3,000 team members plus their families and communities, adds validity to the blueprint identified in last night’s leaked texts -- that the UAW leadership is manipulating the bargaining process for their own personal agendas.
We have contingency plans for various scenarios and are prepared to do what is best for our business, our customers, and our dealers.
We have now presented five separate economic proposals that are historic, addressing areas that our team members have said matters most: wage increases and job security while allowing GM to succeed and thrive into the future. We will continue to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible."
Stellantis also issued a statement Friday afternoon:
"Following yesterday’s publication of comments made by the UAW’s Communications Director and the subsequent strike announcement, we question whether the union’s leadership has ever had an interest in reaching an agreement in a timely manner. They seem more concerned about pursuing their own political agendas than negotiating in the best interests of our employees and the sustainability of our U.S. operations given the market’s fierce competition.
The fact is, we made a very competitive offer yesterday that includes all our current full-time hourly employees earning between $80,000 and $96,000 a year by the end of the contract (a 21.4% compounded increase); a long-term solution for Belvidere; and, significant product allocation that allows for workforce stability through the end of the contract. And yet, we still have not received a response to that offer. We look forward to the UAW leadership’s productive engagement so that we can bargain in good faith to reach an agreement that will protect the competitiveness of our Company and our ability to continue providing good jobs."
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