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The United Auto Workers and Detroit automaker executives engaged in a harsh war of words on Friday, the first day of the union’s unprecedented simultaneous strike against all three of Detroit’s manufacturers, according to a report published by Bloomberg.
Workers called out of a Ford Motor Co. plant in Michigan, a General Motors Co. factory in Missouri, and a Stellantis NV plant in Phio after the midnight deadline for a new contract passed.
The union said it plans to resume bargaining on Saturday after launching its first simultaneous strikes at General Motors, Ford Motor, and Chrysler parent Stellantis, with effects of the limited shutdown starting to spread on Friday, as per Reuters reports.
Addressing a rally in Detroit on Friday, Union President Shawn Fain said, “For eight weeks, the carmakers didn’t seem to be able to find the time to show up to bargaining but were able to make TV appearances.”
“There’s always money for another stock buyback. They say they can’t provide a dignified retirement but there’s always another special dividend for Wall Street,” he added.
Speaking to Bloomberg TV, GM Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra said that she was “extremely disappointed and frustrated.”
“Her company’s offer of 20% raises over four years, cost-of-living allowances, and increases for existing pensioners, was the best in its 115-year history. This is a strike that didn’t need to happen,” she said.
Anderson Economic Group, based in Michigan, has estimated that a 10-day strike could cost the US $5.6 billion, Bloomberg reported.
The union has a list of demands including 36% pay raises over four years, cost of living raises, and an end to different tiers of wages for workers.
In an internal memo sent Friday, GM warned workers at a plant in Fairfax, Kansas, that the facility may be idled as early as next week due to the strike. The Fairfax plant receives parts from the Missouri GM facility included in the initial UAW walkout.
Responding to the workers’ demand, Ford in a statement on Thursday said the union responded to the company’s latest “historically generous” offer by showing little movement from its initial demands.
“If implemented, the proposal would more than double Ford’s current UAW-related labor costs, which are already significantly higher than the labor costs of Tesla, Toyota and other foreign-owned automakers in the United States that utilize non-union-represented labor,” the statement said.
Ford and GM are offering 20% during the next contract while the last known offer from Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, was 17.5%.