The union said it plans to meet with Strantis on Monday.
Tuesday, September 19, 2023 12:03AM
A strike at the three major U.S. automakers entered its fourth day on Monday, with negotiations still ongoing.
The United Auto Workers union, which represents nearly 150,000 U.S. auto workers, launched a strike against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis – the so-called Big Three – earlier on Friday. Nearly 13,000 workers are on strike at three auto plants in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio. Unions are using the “stand-up” strike method to target specific factories and add them to a list if no agreement is reached.
The UAW held talks with Ford on Saturday, GM on Sunday and plans to meet with Stellantis on Monday, a union source told ABC News. The source said conversations with Ford were “quite productive.”
The sticking points in the negotiations were salary increases and the length of the work week. The union is demanding a 46% pay increase over the four-year term of the new contract and a 32-hour work week with 40-hour wages. So far, the three Detroit-based companies have proposed proposals that would give workers a 20 percent pay increase over the life of the agreement but retain a 40-hour work week.
Ford laid off 600 auto assembly workers at a Michigan plant after an unprecedented strike began on Friday. A company spokesperson told ABC News that workers in the paint department of a nearby factory are on strike, leaving assembly workers without enough parts that need to be painted before being assembled into cars.
President Joe Biden said Friday he would send acting Labor Secretary Julie Sue and White House senior adviser Gene Sperling to Detroit to provide support for the two sides to reach a deal.
Economists previously told ABC News that the strike could lead to billions of dollars in losses, supply chain disruptions and other financial consequences.
ABC News’ Meredith Deliso and Max Zahn contributed to this report.
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