[1/2]United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain meets with striking UAW members from the General Motors Lansing Delta Plant, as they picket in Delta Township, Michigan U.S. September 29, 2023. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
WASHINGTON/DETROIT, Oct 23 – The United Auto Workers (UAW) union struck Chrysler-parent Stellantis’s largest assembly plant on Monday, hitting the automaker’s profitable RAM 1500 pickup truck production in a major expansion of the more than month-old strike.
The UAW said another 6,800 workers at a Michigan truck plant are going on strike at Stellantis because the company has the “worst proposal on the table regarding wage progression, temporary worker pay and conversion to full-time, cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), and more.”
More than 40,000 union members working at Ford (F.N), General Motors (GM.N) and Stellantis are now on strike since the walkouts began on Sept. 15.
Stellantis officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
The union has waged an unusual campaign of simultaneous strikes against the Detroit Three automakers, demanding a 40% wage hike, including a 20% immediate increase, improvements in benefits, as well as covering EV battery plant workers under union agreements.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain on Friday warned of more walkouts at U.S. truck and SUV factories unless the Detroit Three automakers improved wage and benefit offers, insisting companies could afford more than the record packages on the table.
The UAW’s move against Sterling Heights is similar to its recent walkout from Ford’s Kentucky Truck assembly plant, its most profitable single operation globally.
Fain met workers at the plant as they left, shaking hands and handing out picket signs, according to a union post on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.
On Oct. 16, Ford Chairman Bill Ford warned of the growing impact to the automaker and the U.S. economy from the strike.
The total economic losses from the UAW strike have reached $7.7 billion, according to the latest data from economic consultancy Anderson Economic Group, with the Detroit Three suffering losses of $3.45 billion.
Stellantis shares were up 1.9% in Milan trading. Ford was down 1.1% in New York while General Motors dropped 0.5%.
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Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington, Joe White in Detroit and Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Deepa Babington
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
