The strike that began on Friday by the workers of the three main automobile manufacturers in the United States continued yesterday for the fourth consecutive day, in the midst of negotiations to reach an agreement, and the union warned that “the ball” is on the side of the companies.
The United Auto Workers (UAW) union, which represents almost 150,000 workers in the American automotive industry and which began a strike early on Friday against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, the so-called Big Three, continued yesterday with the measure of force .
“We have had minimal conversations over the weekend. So, the ball is still in their court. “We are going to continue moving forward as we have been and see how things progress,” UAW President Shawn Fain told NPR public radio today.
Nearly 13,000 workers abandoned three General Motors factories in Missouri, Stellantis in Ohio and part of a Ford plant in Michigan, which were the first to join the picket lines.
Fain said the union wanted to start substantially negotiating two months ago, but the companies waited until just before their contracts expired last week to “really start talking for real.”
“We have a long way to go,” he said. “And if the company does not respect the demands of our workers, then we will intensify our actions.”
The UAW held talks with Ford on Saturday, with GM on Sunday and was scheduled to meet with Stellantis
today, a union source told ABC News television.
The talks with Ford were “reasonably productive,” the source said.
The sticking points in the negotiations were wage increases and the length of the work week.
The union is demanding a combined wage increase of 46% over the four-year duration of a new agreement, as well as a 32-hour work week with a 40-hour wage.
Source: Ambito
