Negotiators for the United Auto Workers and Ford had “reasonably productive discussions” towards a new contract, the union said yesterday, while officials at Chrysler parent Stellantis said the UAW had rejected a plan to save jobs at an Illinois factory.
About 12,700 UAW workers remained on strike for a second day as part of a co-ordinated labour action targeting three US assembly plants – one at each of the Detroit Three carmakers.
Union negotiators and representatives of General Motors, Ford and Stellantis resumed talks yesterday, a day after the UAW initiated the most ambitious US industrial labour action in decades.
There was no sign of a breakthrough as of yesterday afternoon.
However, the UAW comment about the tenor of talks at Ford was more positive than the union’s characterisation of progress ahead of the kickoff of the strikes. On Thursday, Ford CEO Jim Farley said the UAW’s proposals would push the company to bankruptcy, adding that there was “nothing going on” in negotiations.
“As we have said all along, Ford has bet on the UAW more than any other company. We are committed to reaching an agreement with UAW that rewards our workers and allows Ford to invest in the future. We have to win together,” Mark Truby, Ford’s chief communications officer, said in a statement.
Stellantis said yesterday it had hiked its offer, proposing raises of 20 per cent over a four-and-a-half-year contract term, including an immediate 10pc hike. That matches proposals from GM and Ford.
The carmakers said the proposals work out to a cumulative 21pc hike over the period, but they are still significantly below the 40pc wage hike the UAW is demanding through 2027. The union’s wage demand includes a 20pc immediate increase.
Mark Stewart, the North American chief operating officer for Stellantis, told reporters yesterday the UAW rejected a proposal to keep an assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois open, noting that the company’s offer had been contingent on reaching agreement before the contract expiration.
Stewart declined to offer specific details, but added that Stellantis was still willing to talk about the facility’s future. He described the company’s latest offer as “very compelling.”
Stellantis also said it is offering more than $1 billion in retirement security improvements and other increases in benefits.
“This is not about greed,” he said, “This is about sharing success.”
The strikes have halted production at three plants in Michigan, Ohio and Missouri that produce the Ford Bronco, Jeep Wrangler and Chevrolet Colorado, along with other popular models.
Carmakers have said they need cost-competitive contracts because of the need to spend billions of dollars to make the transition to electric vehicles (EV), while workers note US carmakers have enjoyed robust profits over the last decade and had hiked CEO salaries by 40pc on average since 2019.
On Friday, Ford said it was indefinitely laying off 600 workers at a Michigan plant because of the impact of the strike at the facility, which makes the Bronco SUV, and GM told some 2,000 workers at a Kansas car plant that their factory likely would be shut down next week for lack of parts, stemming from a strike at a Missouri plant.
Stellantis said yesterday it does not anticipate any other plants being disrupted by the strike at its Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio.
UAW President Shawn Fain called the reports of planned layoffs of non-striking workers an attempt by the carmakers to “squeeze” union members into accepting a weaker settlement.
“Their plan won’t work,” Fain said in a statement. “We’ll organise one day longer than they can, and go the distance to win economic and social justice at the Big Three.”
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