UAW President Shawn Fain and members and workers at Mopar Parts Center Line, a Stellantis Parts Distribution Center in Center Line, Michigan, protest outside the facility after walking off the job at noon on September 22, 2023.
Matthew Hatcher | AFP | Getty Images
DETROIT – A year after the United Auto Workers’ unprecedented strikes against Detroit automakers, the union is once again threatening work stoppages that could disrupt the U.S. auto industry.
The UAW on Wednesday announced a strike deadline of 1 Ford Motor tool and die plant that supports the automaker’s Rouge Complex near Detroit – one of two plants in the U.S. that produce the company’s highly profitable F-150 truck.
The 25:59 strike deadline on September 25 came a day after UAW President Shawn Fain announced plans to hold strike authorization votes in one or more local unions covering Stellandis plants in the USA
Both announcements amount to warning shots against Ford and Stellan and focus on union contracts and local issues at the facility. The union has not announced similar actions against General Motors.
UAW members are covered by national agreements, which include issues such as wages, bonuses and other benefits, as well as local contracts tailored to each facility.
Local contracts have historically taken months, if not years, to settle after national agreement has been reached. Sometimes they don’t settle at all under the terms of the national agreement.
Last year’s auto worker strikes came during historic national contract negotiations with all three Detroit automakers at the same time. The union won record wage increases – 25% over the course of the deal – and a rollback of cost-of-living adjustments, but labor experts said that could be at the expense of jobs.
The most recent strike deadline for Ford was taken because of local factory negotiations that included “job security, wage parity for skilled trades, as well as labor rules,” according to in the union.
A hit to an assembly plant’s support facility could affect vehicle assembly if the automaker can’t make contingency plans for parts. The factory employs less than 500 workers.
Ford, in a statement Thursday, said negotiations with the union are continuing: “Ford invested $15 million in the plant last year and we came to the table to resolve issues. Negotiations continue and we look forward to reaching an agreement with UAW Local 600 at Dearborn Tool & Die.”
The strike deadline is driving tensions there a step further than in Stellantis, where the union has announced a mandate vote. Strike authorization votes are procedural. It is workers’ votes to authorize UAW leaders to call a strike if warranted. Such votes on national contract negotiations usually pass with more than 90% of workers’ approval.
The announced Stellantis vote comes after months of mudslinging by Fain against Stellantis and its CEO, Carlos Tavares, following product cuts, layoffs and other actions the union deemed detrimental to union members, including the possibility of moving vehicle production like the Dodge Durango outside the US
The union on Monday filed unfair labor practice claims with the National Labor Relations Board against Stellanti, saying the automaker refused to “provide the union with relevant information” about investments and products.
“The company wants you to be afraid, but we are 100% within our rights and within our power to go on strike if we have to,” Fein said Tuesday night during a webcast.
Stellandis argued that such a strike would be illegal.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares speaks to the media on June 13, 2024 after the company’s investor day at its North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich.
Michael Wayland/CNBC
Fein was adamant that the union won the right to strike over the automakers’ products and investment commitments during national negotiations. However, there is still language in the contracts about market conditions, finances and other factors that could give the company leniency.
Stellantis on Tuesday night after the announcement of Fine’s strike authorization vote criticized the union leader for his actions and comments.
“Shawn Fain continues to claim that the company breached the contract, but to date has provided no data or information to support his claims. Instead, he continues to intentionally damage the company’s reputation with his public attacks, which is not useful one including its members,” Stelantis said in an emailed statement.
Stellandis said a strike “doesn’t benefit anyone – our customers, our dealers, the community and, most of all, our employees.”
In addition to Monday’s NLRB complaint against the company, Fain said 28 Stellantis locals have filed complaints against the automaker. Those complaints cover about 98 percent of the UAW-represented Stellantis workforce, according to the union.
“Once we approve a strike at a local, we meet with the company seven times and either resolve the matter or take a strike as our union sees fit,” Fein said.
As of the beginning of this year, Stellandis employed approximately 43,000 union-represented workers.
The union this week also began contract negotiations with Volkswagen. VW workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted overwhelmingly in favor of UAW representation earlier this year.
