The United Auto Workers (UAW) has launched a strike involving 6,800 workers at a Ram pickup truck manufacturing plant in Michigan. The plant, owned by Stellantis, produces some of the automaker’s most profitable vehicles and is the target of a UAW strike against three major U.S. automakers. Union members say Stellantis has made unfavorable proposals for wage advancement, pay for temporary workers, conversion to full-time employment and cost-of-living adjustments. They are demanding improvements in their health and welfare.
Stellantis reported profits of more than $12 billion in the first half of this year, exceeding the profits of General Motors and Ford Motor Co. combined. The strike is part of the UAW’s broader campaign to improve working conditions, currently affecting approximately 40,000 workers at Ford, GM and Stellantis facilities across the country. This includes Ford factories in Michigan, Kentucky and Chicago, Stellantis-owned parts warehouses in Ohio, and his GM-owned factories and warehouses in Michigan and Missouri.
Impact and consequences of UAW strikes
CNN reports that the United Auto Workers union (UAW) describes Stellantis’ proposals on wages, conversion of temporary workers to full-time, and cost of living adjustments as “terrible,” and the UAW seeks better terms in negotiations. He added that car manufacturer. The union criticized Stellantis for lagging behind Ford and General Motors in meeting labor demands, even as the company reported increases in sales, profit margins and cash reserves.
Ram pickup trucks, Stellantis’ best-selling vehicle in the United States, are also built at a nonunion factory in Mexico and another UAW-represented factory in Michigan. However, the exact production volume of each factory remains undisclosed. This is the UAW’s second unexpected strike in two weeks, following the October 11 strike at Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant.
The strike is now in its sixth week, with more than 40,000 UAW union members taking part in the action, including 14,600 at Stellantis, 16,600 at Ford, and 9,200 at GM. The first five weeks of the strike cost an estimated $9.3 billion, with the three automakers suffering a combined loss of $4.2 million. The strike has also affected suppliers, who have lost $2.8 billion in profits and wages. UAW members at automakers who went on strike or were fired lost nearly $500 million in wages.