Roughly 12,700 members of the United Auto Workers union walked out on General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis in Detroit, Michigan, on Friday beginning a targeted and historic strike after contract negotiations with the Big Three automakers failed.
The auto workers are striking over pay, pensions, and working hours, demanding they get better conditions as their four-year contracts expired late Thursday.
They are also pushing back against President Joe Biden’s nationwide push for electric vehicles, a transition that could impact auto worker jobs when it is fully implemented. In contrast with gas-powered vehicles, electric cars require fewer workers to assemble, and the batteries can be made in non-union factories or by workers with lower wages.
Despite his vocal support for labor unions, Biden has not received an endorsement from the UAW. Many other unions have endorsed the president.
“The one thing we have made clear is that our endorsements are going to be earned and not freely given,” UAW president Shawn Fain told MSNBC. “That’s one thing we’re doing differently. And there’s a lot of work left to be done here.”
Last year, Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which included multiple billion-dollar financial packages for the electric-vehicle industry. The president has previously said he wants to see unionized auto workers making the climate-friendly cars, but that hasn’t been finalized — leading to the union workers’ concerns about job security.
Over the summer, the Biden administration continued pumping billions of dollars into the electric-vehicle shift. Last month, the U.S. Department of Energy said it would provide $2 billion in grants and $10 billion in loans alone to support the undertaking.
Biden hopes electric vehicles will represent half of all new car sales by 2030.
Friday’s strike only involved about 12,700 of the UAW’s 150,000 members walking out of their jobs. Fain said the demonstration is “limited and targeted” in scope.
This is the first time in its 88-year history the UAW has gone on strike against all of the Big Three automakers at the same time.
The UAW is aiming for a 36 percent wage increase for workers over the next four years, according to the Associated Press. Additionally, it is demanding the restoration of cost-of-living pay raises that were abandoned in 2007, an end to tiered wages for factory jobs, a 32-hour work week with 40 hours of pay, the restoration of defined-benefit pensions for new hires who now receive 401(k)-style retirement plans, and pension increases for retirees.
Contract talks failed Thursday night before the 11:59 p.m. deadline. In particular, the automakers balked at the 36 percent wage-increase demand.
General Motors and Ford each came back with an offer of 20 percent increases, while Stellantis offered 17.5 percent.