UAW Started Striking But Will They Win the Battle and Lose the War?

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Thousands of members of the United Auto Workers went on strike at three U.S. assembly plants of General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, after the union and the automakers failed to reach a deal on a new labor contract Thursday night.

The facilities are GM’s midsize truck and full-size van plant in Wentzville, Missouri; Ford’s Ranger midsize pickup and Bronco SUV plant in Wayne, Michigan; and Stellantis’ Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio.

12,700 workers will be on strike. The UAW represents about 146,000 workers at Ford, GM and Stellantis.

If all three faced a strike, shrinking auto production would cut quarterly annualized growth by 0.05 to 0.1 percentage points for each week it lasted, Goldman Sachs estimates. However, Goldman Sachs said growth would then rise by the same amount it declined in the quarter following a strike.

Ford, GM offered 18-20% raises but were rejected. The bigger parts are the 32 hour work week would have overtime kick in a day earlier for workers still working 50-60hours per week and forcing the UAW into the new electric car and battery plants. The companies only have half UAW workers. They can phase out the UAW plants and only build at global non-UAW plants.

Former Ford CEO Mark Fields said

Fields: UAW could win the battle but lose the war.

If the automakers are forced to reinstate pensions, provide healthcare for retirees and take other steps, they could decide to just move factories – and jobs – overseas.

“The automakers are going to be very rational about this. If this is what my cost per unit is here in the US — including labor — and it’s uncompetitive, I’m going to have to move it to where it’s more competitive, like Mexico,” said Fields, who is currently a senior advisor to private equity firm TPG Capital. “You don’t want the UAW to win the battle but lose the war.”

16 thoughts on “UAW Started Striking But Will They Win the Battle and Lose the War?”

  2. Meh. Automation will disable most of the remaining ‘organized’ (factory, assembly line, etc) blue collar work. The key is import/ export. What do we let in and what do we create in-country. The US/Canada and to a lesser degree UK/ EU can have fully autonomous economies.

    But what next?
    We are at a true economic cross-roads.
    With vastly reduced white collar attendance and vastly unreliable ‘remote’ productivity; on-shoring not really bringing back the manufacturing/ up-stream supply lines; rampant NIMBYism diminishing mining, energy, and other critical early resources, physical retail collapse, etc – what is left to provide employment? – modern farming could be fulfilling.
    If we remove the remaining pension systems and other legacy entitlements, transition salaries to hourly/piece-meal system – because, hey, people are working from home and can’t guarantee ‘prolonged work focus’, we have to move to a hourly or task-based remuneration system. Do a report/ task/ review/ design/ assignment, get a buck… etc., etc. The Uber of all services and work – pay per item – all industries. Truly meritocratic.

  3. Real Question, Why not ditch the unions?
    Wouldn’t this be a perfect time for Ford (for example) to un-unionize their workforce. Post good (non-union) wages up of a sign outside the building, and keep on producing vehicles. Union members would realize they can make more without lazy union people taking their slice, and they will instantly be hired by Ford since they already know how to do their specific job.

  4. Only 50,000 of GM’s 160,000 employees are union. GM managers can easily replace the 6,000 strikers with management unless they all wear rainbow attire and drink Budweiser.

  5. Strike like it’s 1955!
    Big union fat cats are leading their members to the slaughter.
    Safe at the top so they can discard the low level fodder.

    • I don’t recall the exact year, but I think it was the early to mid ’70’s that unions tried this. Then, Japan ate our lunch. Same will happen this time with the likes of Tesla. What are these people thinking?! Looks like suicide to me. Even without this, these companies are going to be lucky to survive this decade – even with bailouts.

    • They contribute much more to the US vs the Mexican economy – which despite the Free Trade Agreement are distinctly different things.

    • Short term? Maybe none. Long term? You’re putting manufacturing in a volatile nation. That’s why companies are pulling out of China in the first place. And China was arguably more stable than the US.

    • Factories in the USA have supply lines that do not rely on bribing the local drug cartels to make deliveries. Also energy is cheaper in the USA thanks to fracking.

    • USA workers eat in the US, have kids, defend America, buy homes, Christmas presents, tools, medicine & movies. This process supports other citizens who eat, buy presents, etc.
      Mexican workers, not so much.

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