UAW says new strikes at Detroit Three will come without notice
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UAW says new strikes at Detroit Three will come without notice
DETROIT (Reuters) - United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said on Friday that the union will not expand its strike against the Detroit Three automakers at the moment, but said its members would now walk out of additional facilities without warning rather than wait until Fridays to announce new plans.
“We’re entering a new phase of this fight and it demands a new approach,” said Fain in a livestreamed address on social media. He shifted tactics with little notice on Wednesday when he ordered a walkout at Ford Motor's (F.N) Kentucky Truck heavy-duty pickup and large SUV factory - the automaker's largest, most lucrative single operation globally.
"We're not waiting until Fridays anymore," he said. "Now there's only one rule - pony up."
The UAW strike has hit the one-month mark with more than 34,000 union members working at Ford, General Motors (GM.N) and Chrysler parent Stellantis (STLAM.MI) out on strike, including those at Ford's cash-cow Kentucky plant.
While Fain on Friday warned of potential strikes at all of the Detroit automakers, he reserved his harshest remarks for Ford, which he accused of trying to game the talks with inadequate offers, prompting Wednesday's walkout.
Referring to Ford CEO Jim Farley's lucrative pay package, he said Farley should "go get the big checkbook - the one Ford uses when it wants to spend millions on company executives or Wall Street giveaways.”
Ford officials could not be reached for comment on Friday.
The talks have grown increasingly tense as Fain has continued his campaign of playing off the automakers against each other. However, some union officials privately say that some workers have begun complaining about the length of the strike.
Wells Fargo analyst Colin Langan on Friday estimated the UAW's strike fund was still about $770 million, but industry officials have said the escalation against Ford's most profitable trucks will also hurt workers' profit-sharing checks.
Automakers have more than doubled initial wage hike offers to a range between 20% and 23%, agreed to raise wages along with inflation and improved pay for temporary workers. But the union wants higher wages still, the abolishment of a two-tier wage system and a clear path to organizing new joint-venture battery plants.
Over the past four weeks, Fain has used Friday addresses to order additional walkouts, or outline progress in bargaining.
