CHICAGO (Xinhua) – The United Auto Workers (UAW) is ready for more walkouts against three major U.S. automakers “with little notice,” the chief of the union says.
“We are prepared at any time to call on more locals to stand up and walk out,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a webcast on the month-long strike against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. “We will be calling out plants when we need to, with little notice.”
In a social media live appearance, Fain called this a “new phase” in the union’s fight against the Big Three as the strike enters its fifth week.
In addition, he said that union members went to Ford’s World Headquarters to negotiate, and the automaker tried to present the same deal the union had rejected two weeks ago.
Ford Motor and Stellantis said Friday that they will temporarily lay off 1,250 employees due to the impact of the UAW strike.
Ford has temporarily laid off another 550 employees after the UAW walkouts at its Chicago and Kentucky plants.
At about 6:35 p.m. local time (2235 GMT) on Wednesday, the union announced an expansion midweek for the first time, and without warning, 8,700 UAW workers suddenly went on strike at Ford’s largest factory, the Kentucky Truck Plant, in response to Ford’s refusal to move further in contract bargaining, according to local media.
“We’re not gonna wait around forever,” Fain said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“If Ford can’t get that after four weeks on strike, these 8,700 workers shutting down their biggest plant will help them understand it,” he added.
The UAW president’s remarks come as the union and the Big Three automakers still appear at loggerheads over a new contract.
Ford officials told local reporters Thursday that the company has gone as far as it can on the additional money it can offer members. Executives responded to the Kentucky factory strike by saying the company had reached its financial limit in contract negotiations with the union.
“On the economics, I would say, yes, we’re pretty much -- we have reached our limit,” said Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue, the automaker’s hybrid division.
“You know who’s reached their limit? The tens of thousands of Ford workers with no retirement security, the Ford workers who didn’t get a single raise for a decade,” said Fain in a video announcement, noting that Ford CEO Jim Farley made 21 million U.S. dollars in 2022.