Cars and Drivers

Automakers, UAW Talks Make Progress; Now, About That T-Shirt

Paul Ausick

Published: October 10, 2023 9:20 am

The big news in the United Auto Workers strikes against the Detroit Three automakers is that UAW President Shawn Fein wore an “Eat the Rich” T-shirt at his weekly press conference. Have the strike talks ‌devolved into competitive name-calling?

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A week before Friday’s T-shirt incident, General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) CEO Mary Barra called Fein’s bargaining strategy “theatrics.” Fein essentially responded, “You want theatrics, I’ll give you theatrics.” Of course, none of the automakers has gone on record with an actual response to the T-shirt.

As for actual news about the strike, no more workers walked out last week, and Fein said that the talks are making progress. Now, about that T-shirt …

Source: United Auto Workers via X

GM Canada Walks Out

GM does have a new and real problem, however. Workers at its Canadian plants walked off the job at one minute before midnight Monday. Unifor, the Canadian union that represents autoworkers in Canada, had reached a contract agreement with Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) in late September.

Late Monday, Stellantis N.V. (NYSE: STLA) announced a layoff of 570 workers at its engine plant in Michigan. This action brings the company’s layoff total to 640, not including about 300 workers who were laid off before the UAW called a strike and who returned to work Monday.

Unifor is using the union’s prior tactic of negotiating a contract with one automaker and using that as a template for talks with the others. Unifor President Lana Payne said GM is “stubbornly refusing to meet the pattern agreement,” and the union will remain on strike until the company changes its tune.

Payne noted that the issues still to be decided include union pension demands, retirement income and a “meaningful” plan to move temporary workers to full-time jobs.

The walkout at three of GM’s Canadian facilities will affect production of the company’s best-selling Silverado pickups.

U.S. Layoffs and Strikes

Back in the United States, a Detroit auto parts supplier on Monday laid off 143 of its 232 workers. The layoff affected 129 union members and 14 salaried employees. The layoff is scheduled to end on November 25.

Both GM and Ford announced more layoffs on Monday. GM laid off 155 people at three different locations, raising the total number of employees laid off to around 2,300. Ford cut 491 workers loose on Friday at two plants in Ohio and one in Michigan. On Monday, the company told 71 more workers at a Michigan plant not to report for work. Ford has laid off about 1,800 workers since the strike began.

Also on Monday, almost 4,000 union members walked off their jobs at Mack truck plants in three states. Mack Trucks is owned by Sweden’s AB Volvo. Five locals in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida walked out. The walkout brings the total number of union members now on strike to more than 30,000.

Volvo had offered the workers a 19% pay increase over the five-year term of the contract and a lump sum payment of $3,500. Union members rejected the offer by a margin of nearly 3 to 1.

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Fashion Forward

Maybe it’s a good thing that Fein’s wardrobe choices overshadowed the new layoffs and strikes. Alex Calderone, president of an industry consulting firm, told the Detroit Free Press, “While provocative messaging may generate attention and demand for merchandise, it’s essential to recognize that addressing wealth inequality requires a more comprehensive approach.”

Calderone went on to say that the T-shirt “calls attention to an issue that by all means is the 800-pound gorilla standing in the room and at one point or the other that issue has to be addressed.”

But deflecting the UAW’s real issues is easier and has a history of being successful, so that’s what the industry will do. At some point down the road, that will not work anymore.