Thousands of workers three assembly plants General Motors (GM), Ford y Stellar on deer They started early on Friday strike due to the lack of an agreement to sign a new collective agreement.
An unprecedented strike
This is First time in history that the factories of the so-called Big Three in Detroit, as the three companies are known, they strike together.
The president of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, Shawn Fein, announced at 11:00 local time on Thursday (02:00 GMT on Friday) that workers at GM’s Wentzville, Missouri, assembly plant; those from the Toledo, Ohio, Stellantis plant; and those at the Ford plant in Michigan will be the first to strike. The three plants work around 13,500 people.
New collective agreement
Fein announced in a speech broadcast on Facebook Live that workers at the three plants will walk off their jobs at 00:01 on Friday (04:01 GMT) if an agreement is not reached among the three companies for signing on new collective agreement.
“For the first time in history, we will declare strikes at the same time in all three (companies). We are using a new strategy, the chosen strike” Fein declared.
Following Fein’s words, hundreds of union members stood at the gates of Wentzville, Toledo and Michigan to join the strike pickets.
she The union and the three companies have been negotiating since July to sign a new collective agreement for the next four years.. But the union said the companies did not negotiate in good faith.
The UAW demands a Salary increase of 46% in four yearsthe return of traditional pensions, the reduction of working hours and the unionization of workers in battery production factories.
The threat of a strike at many plants
The UAW has warned that it will use a strategy of selective strikes at various Big Three plants to put more pressure on the companies. The number of plants on strike will increase as negotiations continue.
Fein also did not rule out the UAW declaring a simultaneous general strike at three companies, an unprecedented measure in the history of the United States.
the uThe last strike experienced in the sector occurred in 2019 when the UAW negotiated the signing of the collective agreement that expired at midnight Thursday.
Then the 49,000 GM workers went on strike for 40 days, costing the company an estimated $3.8 billion. (3,569 million euros at today’s exchange rate).
A study released in mid-August showed that a ten-day strike by GM, Ford and Stellantis workers would cost $5 billion.
