UAW President Sean Fain, union members and workers at Mopar Parts Centerline, a Stellantis parts distribution center in Centerline, Michigan, walked off the job at noon on September 22, 2023, and picketed outside the facility.
Matthew Hatcher | AFP | Getty Images
DETROIT – A year after an unprecedented strike by the United Auto Workers against Detroit automakers, the union is again warning of a strike that could disrupt the U.S. auto industry.
The UAW said Wednesday Ford Motor Company A tool and die shop that anchors the automaker’s Rouge complex near Detroit, one of two U.S. plants that build the company’s highly profitable F-150 pickup truck.
The strike deadline of 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 25 was set one day after UAW President Sean Fain announced plans to hold strike authorization votes in one or more union locals. Stellantis US Factory
Both announcements are a warning to Ford and Stellantis, and focus on union contracts and zoning issues at their facilities. General Motors.
UAW members are covered by a national agreement that covers 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 be finalized after a national agreement has been reached, and sometimes they never are finalized at all during the national contracting period.
Last year’s autoworkers’ strike came amid historic negotiations over a simultaneous nationwide contract with Detroit’s three automakers. The unions won record wage increases — 25 percent over the life of the contract — and the reinstatement of cost-of-living adjustments, but labor experts said jobs could be sacrificed.
The union said the deadline for Ford’s latest strike was set over negotiations at local plants including “job security, pay equity for skilled workers and work regulations.”
A strike at an auxiliary facility at the assembly plant could affect vehicle assembly if the automaker can’t develop contingency plans for parts. The plant employs fewer than 500 people.
Ford said in a statement Thursday that negotiations with the union were continuing: “Ford invested $15 million in the plant last year and has been working to resolve the issues. Negotiations continue and we hope to reach an agreement with UAW Local 600 at Dearborn Tool & Die.”
The strike deadline has created more tension than Stellantis, whose union announced a certification vote. A strike certification vote is procedural, a workers’ vote that allows UAW leaders to call a strike if there is good cause. Such votes for nationwide contract negotiations typically pass with more than 90% workers’ approval.
The vote announcement at Stellantis came after months of smears by Fain against Stellantis and its CEO, Carlos Tavares, following product cuts, layoffs and other actions that the union sees as detrimental to its members, including the possibility of moving production of vehicles such as the Dodge Durango out of the United States.
The union filed an unfair labor practice complaint against Stellantis with the National Labor Relations Board on Monday, alleging that the automaker has refused to “provide the union with relevant information” about its investments and products.
“I know the company wants to create fear in our workers, but we 100 percent have the right and the authority to strike if necessary,” Fain said in an online broadcast on Tuesday night.
Stellantis argues that such strikes would be illegal.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares spoke to media following an investor briefing at the company’s North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan on June 13, 2024.
Michael Weiland / CNBC
Fain is adamant that the union won the right to strike over product and investment promises from the automakers in national negotiations, but the contract still contains language about market conditions, economic conditions and other factors that could give the company leniency.
Stellantis criticized union leaders’ actions and comments Tuesday night after Fain announced the strike authorization vote.
“Sean Fain continues to assert that the company breached its contract, but so far has not provided any data or information to support his claims. Instead, he continues to deliberately damage the company’s reputation through public attacks, which does not serve anyone, including our members,” Stellantis said in an emailed statement.
Stellantis said a strike “is not in the interest of anyone – our customers, our dealers, our communities and, most importantly, our employees.”
Fain said that in addition to the National Labor Relations Committee’s complaint against the company on Monday, 28 Stellantis local chapters have filed complaints against the company. The union said those complaints cover about 98 percent of Stellantis’ UAW-represented workers.
“Once we authorize a strike at our branch, we meet with the company seven times to decide whether to resolve the issue or go ahead with a strike as the union sees fit,” Fain said.
As of earlier this year, Stellantis employed roughly 43,000 workers represented by unions.
The union also began contract negotiations this week with Volkswagen, whose Chattanooga, Tennessee, workers voted overwhelmingly in favor of the right to be represented by the UAW earlier this year.