UAW poised to strike at Ford, GM, Stellantis as midnight deadline nears

[Ptarmigan]

UAW poised to strike at Ford, GM, Stellantis as midnight deadline nears
https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/uaw-strike-ford-gm-stellantis-midnight-deadline-nears

The United Auto Workers union is readying plans to strike against Detroit's Big Three automakers after rejecting Ford, General Motors and Stellantis' latest contract offers with only hours remaining for negotiations before Thursday's midnight deadline.

While there is still time for the automakers to reach tentative agreements with the union before any work stoppage, the parties were still far apart on terms as of Wednesday night, and each is preparing for plant shutdowns.

The union was seeking 40% pay raises over four years along with an array of additional benefits, including a reduction of the workweek to 32 hours for 40 hours worth of pay for its 146,000 members at Ford, GM and Dodge parent Stellantis.

UAW President Shawn Fain told members Wednesday night in a Facebook live video that Ford has offered autoworkers 20% raises over the term of the contract, while GM and Stellantis proposed 18% and 17.5%, respectively, all of which the union rejected as inadequate.

"We're making progress ... but we're still very far apart on our key priorities," Fain said. "To win, we're likely going to have to take action."

A strike could be imminent.

An extended work stoppage would be costly not only for the auto industry but for the economy at large.

If the UAW does end up striking against all three automakers at once and manufacturing operations are entirely shut down, it would cost the U.S. economy roughly $5.6 billion in just 10 days, according to an analysis from Anderson Economic Group.

Any automaker whose production is halted will suffer earnings losses of roughly $400 million to $500 million per week, Deutsch Bank has estimated.

[Ptarmigan]

UAW to strike at Detroit Big Three after failed contract agreement
https://www.foxbusiness.com/fox-news-auto-show/uaw-strike-gm-ford-stellantis-after-failed-contract-agreement

The United Auto Workers will strike at the Big Three Automakers-GM, Ford and Stellantis on Thursday night at midnight after the companies did not reach a tentative labor deal with autoworkers.

UAW President Shawn Fain announced the historic strike after months of failed negotiations for a 4-year contract with autoworkers.

"Tonight for the first time in our history we will strike all three of the big three at once," Fain said in a Facebook live announcement.

Fain called upon the workers at a GM plant in Wentzville, Missouri; a Stellantis plant in Toledo; and a Ford plant in Wayne, Michigan to "standup" and walk out on strike tonight at midnight in what he called a, "standup strike."

Plants that were not called upon to strike will work without a contract, Fain said.

Looks like the UAW is striking.

[Eupher]

I haven't bought a Detroit-built car in damn near 40 years.

I grew up in the Detroit area, so I understand the impact of strikes. At this point, IDGAF. I wouldn't buy a piece of Detroit iron for pennies on the dollar.

[SVPete]

So the UAW's new business plan is to drive a car company into bankruptcy, get WashDC to bail out the company, and then get a cut off the to of the bail-out.

Our most recent "Detroit" product was a 2001 Chrysler minivan. My commutermobiles were Japanese until I "inherited" Mrs. SVPete's next vehicle, a VW mini SUV (she bought a newer one, so not from Detroit). Ford "quality" screwed us over in the 80s, and after the gooberment bail-out of GM and screwing over Chrysler bond holders, we won't buy from them, either.

[Ptarmigan]

UAW Auto Strike Costs "Detroit 3" $250 Million In Lost Profit Every Day, Will Lead To Much More Inflation
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/uaw-auto-strike-costs-detroit-3-250-million-lost-profit-every-day-will-lead-much-more

One week ago, when previewing the three events that are about to slam US GDP in the tail end of the 3rd and the 3th quarter (including the return of student loan payments, the UAW strike and the government shutdown), Goldman calculated that reduced auto production from a potential UAW strike would reduce quarterly annualized growth by 0.05-0.10% for each week it lasted, if all three companies currently undergoing contract negotiations are impacted. "Those three companies—Ford, GM, and Stellantis—produce almost half of domestically-assembled cars. Auto production would likely fall sharply—we assume to roughly zero—at any company impacted by a strike", Goldman said in its 30,000 approximation of the impact..



Fast forward to today when Morgan Stanley's auto strategist, Adam Jonas, takes a closer look at the impact of the UAW strikes, which are now in their 5th day.

According to Jonas, investors have expressed a degree of trepidation over the strike outcome in a recent survey and now that it’s here, the path to resolution does appear to have matched investor fears.

Here is his quick calculation: "the value of N. American light production of the D3 (F, GM, STLA collectively) is approximately $750mm per day (approx. 15k units per day). Applying slightly more than a 30% decremental (yes, mix is that high) implies around $250mm of lost profit per day (assuming 100% of production impacted)."

Extrapolating to a full month of lost output (adjusted for production days) could be worth $7 to $8bn of lost profit for the D3, collectively.

The longer the UAW strike lasts, inflation could rise.

[Ptarmigan]

GM lays off 164 more workers due to UAW strike
https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/gm-lays-off-164-workers-uaw-strike

General Motors has laid off more employees as a result of the United Auto Workers union's strike, bringing the company's total tally of workers furloughed in connection with the work stoppage above 2,100.

The UAW is waging a simultaneous yet limited strike against all Detroit's Big Three automakers, but GM is the only company that has not been spared so far in the union's incremental strike escalations.

The union's strike began on Sept. 15, starting with a Ford plant in Michigan, a GM plant in Wentzville, Missouri, and a Stellantis plant in Ohio. Then on Sept. 22, the UAW targeted 38 parts distribution facilities for GM and Stellantis. In the third round on Friday, workers at GM's assembly plant in Lansing, Michigan, and Ford's assembly plant in Chicago walked off the job.

Hours later, GM said it would be forced to furlough 130 workers at its Parma, Ohio, metal center and 34 from its Marion, Indiana, metal center.

GM has laid off employees due to the UAW strike. More layoffs are likely.

[Ptarmigan]

Here’s why the UAW’s record deals with GM, Ford and Stellantis aren’t getting full support
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/14/why-many-uaw-members-oppose-gm-ford-stellantis-deals.html

DETROIT — The United Auto Workers achieved record contracts with the Detroit automakers following contentious talks and roughly six weeks of targeted labor strikes. But not all of the union’s members are satisfied with the tentative agreements.

The deals, which were recommended for ratification by UAW leaders, were on pace to pass as of Tuesday morning, but support is narrowing. The agreements have received notable rejections at major Ford Motor and, especially, General Motors plants in recent days. Workers at Chrysler owner Stellantis are still in early voting but have so far largely backed the contract.

At least three major assembly plants representing 9,730, or 21%, of GM’s 46,000 UAW-represented employees have voted against the pact. They include 61% against at Lansing Delta Township plant in Michigan, which builds Buick and Chevrolet crossovers; 67.5% rejection at a Cadillac and GMC crossover plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee; and 52% opposed at GM’s Flint, Michigan, truck plant. A handful of other smaller plants also have voted against the deal.

At Ford, the automaker’s Kentucky Truck Plant — its largest in terms of employment and revenue — had 54.5% of members vote against it.

Not all UAW workers are on board with the deal yet.

Record deals, with some caveats
The UAW’s tentative agreements with automakers include:

25% wage increases, including 11% upon ratification
reinstatement of cost-of-living adjustments to pay
a three-year progression to top wages instead of eight years
billions in new investments
the inclusion of some battery workers
Major targets they didn’t include:

40% general wage increases
complete elimination of wage and benefit tiers
a 32-hour workweek
post-retirement health care coverage and traditional pensions for all