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Month: September 2023

AP Sources: UAW may strike at small number of factories if it can’t reach deals with automakers

AP Sources: UAW may strike at small number of factories if it can’t reach deals with automakers

By TOM KRISHER (AP Auto Writer)

DETROIT (AP) — Leaders of the United Auto Workers union are considering targeted strikes at a small number of factories run by each of Detroit’s three automakers if they can’t reach contract agreements by a Thursday night deadline.

The union’s leadership discussed smaller-scale strikes at a meeting on Friday, and local union leaders were told about the strategy on Tuesday afternoon, two people with knowledge of the strategy said.

The people didn’t want to be identified because they weren’t authorized to disclose details until President Shawn Fain updates workers Wednesday afternoon in a Facebook Live appearance.

At the Tuesday meeting, Fain didn’t say whether the union would target vehicle assembly plants or component factories, one of the people said. Strikes at parts plants could force production halts at multiple assembly factories. He also didn’t say how many workers would walk off their jobs.

The UAW wouldn’t comment.

Strikes at individual plants would be far less costly to the union, which would have to pay $500 per week to each of its 146,000 members if it strikes against General Motors, Stellantis and Ford at the same time. In that case, the union’s $825 million strike fund would run dry in just under three months, not including payments by the union for health insurance. read more

Autoworkers strike would test Biden’s claim that he’s the most pro-union president in US history

Autoworkers strike would test Biden’s claim that he’s the most pro-union president in US history

By WILL WEISSERT and JOEY CAPPELLETTI (Associated Press)

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The prospect of an autoworkers strike could test Joe Biden’s treasured assertion that he’s the most pro-union president in U.S. history.

The United Auto Workers is threatening to strike against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, if tentative contact agreements aren’t reached by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday. That could reshape the political landscape in the battleground state of Michigan and potentially unleash economic shockwaves nationwide.

The auto industry accounts for about 3% of the nation’s gross domestic product and though union leaders say they are mulling strikes at a small number of factories run by those automakers, as many as 146,000 workers could eventually walk off their jobs. The effects would be most immediate in Michigan and other auto job-heavy states such as Ohio and Indiana. But a prolonged strike could trigger car shortages and layoffs in auto-supply industries and other sectors.

“Anything that goes beyond a week, you’re going to start feeling the pain,” said Marick Masters, a business professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. “And anything beyond two weeks, that’s when the effects start to compound.” read more

Wages are finally rising faster than inflation, but why don’t we feel it?

Wages are finally rising faster than inflation, but why don’t we feel it?

Sarah Foster | (TNS) Bankrate.com

Glenn Stellwag is making more money than ever between his two jobs and side hustles. Even then, he feels like he’s barely scraping by most months thanks to inflation.

After a back injury cost him his job at a sawmill six years ago, Stellwag, 41, has worked at a local hardware store near his Michigan home, where he stocks shelves, rings up merchandise and assists customers four days a week from 9 a.m. to about 6 p.m. But last October, Stellwag found a second job with a tow truck company, work he picked up when he felt he “couldn’t afford to live anymore.” He’s on call six days a week from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. The way his schedules line up, he doesn’t have a single night off from work.

He’s since added other gigs repairing lawn mowers and small engines. His total monthly income rounds out to anywhere between $2,500 and $3,000 a month, all of which goes toward his groceries, mortgage, truck payment, car payment, insurance and utilities. Even his hobby — mud bogging — has grown too expensive. Untouched and spotless, his truck sits in his backyard, waiting for the economy to turn around. read more