WASHINGTON (CNN) - The United Auto Workers union is preparing for possible strikes at the nation’s three unionized automakers next month, as the union tries to win back many of the concessions it lost more than 15 years ago and protect members during the transition to electric vehicles in the years ahead.
Strike votes concluded Thursday among about 145,000 UAW members at General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, the company that sells vehicles under the Ram, Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler names. The union is due to report results at around 11 am ET Friday. Strike authorization votes generally pass.
However, the vote does not mean there will be a strike at any of the three automakers. It just empowers union leadership to call a strike if they can’t reach a deal with management before a contract expiration. It is a common negotiating tactic in advance of a strike deadline. Even with a recent increase in strikes across the U.S., most labor negotiations conclude with an agreement and not a strike.
The contracts with the three automakers all expire September 14.
Union President Shawn Fain and the UAW are talking up an ambitious set of goals in this year’s negotiations. The UAW wants to get back contract provisions it gave up in the 2007 negotiations, as the companies were all reporting massive losses and GM and Chrysler were less than two years away from bankruptcies and federal bailouts.