Photo by Sam Warren on Unsplash
By Dennis Limmer
Source: retailwire.com, September 2024
According to its official newsroom, the United Auto Workers (UAW) has issued a new strike notice for the Tool & Die Unit at Ford’s River Rouge Complex near Detroit, Michigan, effective Thursday, Sept. 26. The warning comes as local contract disputes have not yet been resolved between the UAW and Ford.
The notice follows over a year of stalled negotiations between Ford Motor Company and UAW Local 600 regarding a new agreement. Key issues at the center of the negotiations include “job security, wage parity for Skilled Trades, as well as work rules.”
The strike deadline has been set for 11:59 p.m., Wednesday, Sept 25, after being authorized by UAW’s VP Chuck Browning.
While UAW members have national contracts, they also engage in local negotiations to address specific concerns at individual plants.
As reported by CNBC, Shawn Fain, president of the UAW, held strike authorization votes at “one or more local unions covering Stellantis plants in the U.S.” just yesterday.
These announcements both serve as “warning shots” directed at Ford and Stellantis, focusing on union contracts and local facility issues. However, no similar actions have been announced against General Motors.
Last November, the UAW commenced a strike at Ford’s Kentucky facilities over similar issues. However, Ford wasn’t the only automaker that the union organized strikes against. On Oct. 23, 2023, the UAW held a strike involving 6,800 workers at a Stellantis Ram pickup truck plant in Michigan. The union demanded better wages and benefits, citing Stellantis’s inadequate proposals on wage progression and temporary worker pay.
Days later, the UAW officially ended their strike and ratified a new labor agreement across the Detroit Three automakers — Ford, GM, and Stellantis.
It has been a long and tumultuous journey for the UAW, and hopefully a fair compromise is made to prevent further complications in the automotive industry.
