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☆ U.A.W. Effort to Organize Mercedes Workers in Alabama Has High Stakes
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

More than 5,000 Mercedes-Benz workers in Alabama are voting this week on whether to join the United Automobile Workers union, a decision both supporters and opponents say will have consequences far beyond two factories near Tuscaloosa where the German carmaker churns out luxury sport utility vehicles and batteries for electric cars. Conservative political leaders have portrayed the union campaign to organize Mercedes workers as an assault by outsiders on the region’s economy and way of life. The vote tally is expected to be released by federal officials on Friday. Six Southern governors, including Kay Ivey, an Alabama Republican, issued a statement last month criticizing unions as “special interests looking to come into our state and threaten our jobs and the values we live by.” Alabama recently passed a law intended to discourage union organizing. For the union, a win would add to a string of victories in the South, where organized labor has traditionally been weak, and provide momentum to the U.A.W.’s efforts to win over workers at other nonunion automakers like Hyundai, Toyota, Honda and Tesla.

Persons: Kay Ivey Organizations: Benz, United Automobile Workers, Conservative, Six, Alabama Republican, ”, Hyundai, Toyota, Honda Locations: Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Six Southern, ” Alabama

☆ UAW says Volkswagen workers vote overwhelmingly to join union, giving it groundbreaking win
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

If the union can win the right to represent workers across the broad swath of the nonunion auto plants, it could increase their leverage in future contract negotiations. Most of the nonunion auto plants are spread across the south. It is also seeking to represent workers at three American automakers making electric vehicles – Tesla, Rivian and Lucid. Many of the nonunion automakers, including Volkswagen, gave their workers similar raises in the wake of the UAW contracts. And the UAW has had little success winning the right to represent nonunion auto workers since then, until Friday’s vote.

Persons: ”, Kelcey Smith, Bill Lee Organizations: New, New York CNN, United Auto Workers, National Labor Relations Board, UAW, Volkswagen, – General Motors, Ford, BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, Volvo, American, Mercedes, Tennessee Gov Locations: New York, Chattanooga , Tennessee, United States, Southern, Vance , Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Volkswagen’s Chattanooga, Alabama, Georgia , Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, American, Pennsylvania

☆ UAW union vote at Volkswagen could have big implications for US auto industry and labor’s strength in South
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

A whole lot of people who were anti-union in the past have switched.”The union vote at the Volkswagen plant will mean more than whether the 4,300 hourly workers in Chattanooga are members of the UAW or not. But he said he wants the better pay and benefits he sees workers at unionized auto plants are getting, in order to provide more for his family. Volkswagen staying neutralThe company said it is neutral in the election, only urging workers to vote however they want. That’s relatively rare in union representation elections, where management often lobbies workers to vote no at mandatory meetings, and sometimes takes action against union organizers. Bill Lee and five other Southern governors – from Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas – who have nonunion auto plants in their states.

Persons: Renee Berry, ”, they’re, Darrell Belcher, it’s, Berry, ” Berry, Kelcey Smith, ” Smith, “, Belcher, he’s, Mercedes –, Tesla, Wheaton, Bill Lee, –, Joe Biden, Corey Linn, Biden, He’s, ’ ” Berry Organizations: New, New York CNN, Volkswagen, United Auto Workers, UAW, unionize, ” UAW, GM, Ford, VW, “, Mercedes – BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, Volvo, Cornell University’s Industrial, Labor Relations, Tennessee Republican Gov, Southern, ”, don’t Locations: New York, Chattanooga , Tennessee, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Mexico, Germany, United States, Tuscaloosa , Alabama, Alabama , Georgia , Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas

☆ UAW reaches milestone in filing for a union vote at second nonunion auto plant
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

But while that VW plant has had two votes before this, the Mercedes plant has never reached the threshold of union support that resulted in an election being held. An election at the Mercedes plant has yet to be confirmed by the National Labor Relations Board, which oversees such votes, let alone scheduled. While the UAW has filed for a vote at Mercedes’ Alabama plant, it has yet to file for a vote at its plant in Charleston, South Carolina. A high-profile union organizing vote at an Amazon warehouse in nearby Bessemer, Alabama was defeated in a close vote in 2021. And management of the non-union automakers is likely to fight union organizing efforts.

Persons: Mercedes, ” Organizations: New, New York CNN, United Auto Workers, UAW, Volkswagen, VW, National Labor Relations Board, Benz, International, General Motors, Ford, Mercedes, BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, Volvo, GM Locations: New York, Alabama, Chattanooga , Tennessee, VW Chattanooga, Vance , Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Mexico, Edmunds, Tennessee, Mercedes ’ Alabama, Charleston , South Carolina, Bessemer , Alabama

☆ UAW files for union vote at Volkswagen’s Tennessee plant
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —The United Auto Workers union is seeking a union representation vote among more than 4,000 hourly workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The union has announced a broad-based campaign to win representation at the American plants of 13 nonunion automakers. That is slightly more than the union’s representation at the three unionized automakers, which have about 145,000 UAW members between them. The VW Chattanooga plant is the only factory operated by VW that does not have union representation. Once the election process starts, management often holds mandatory meetings with staff to make the case against union representation, and that convinces some earlier supporters of the union to end their support.

Persons: –, ”, Victor Vaughn, ” Vaughn, “ Organizations: New, New York CNN, United Auto Workers, Volkswagen, BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, Volvo, – Tesla, –, Motors, Ford, Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, VW, ” Locations: New York, Chattanooga , Tennessee, VW Chattanooga, Chattanooga

☆ Shawn Fain, CNN Business’ labor leader of the year, plans to keep automakers sweating
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-27 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

New York CNN —The longest US auto strike this century is over after a pretty clear win for the United Auto Workers union at all three unionized automakers. “I don’t like what I’ve seen in my work career with the UAW leadership, where they were too damn close to the companies,” UAW President Shawn Fain told CNN earlier this month. So I like to let the body of work speak for itself.”The success of those contracts is the reason that Shawn Fain is CNN Business’ labor leader of the year. All told nearly 800,000 union members got raises of 10% or more during 2023. The plant will be be reopened under the agreement reached between Stellantis and the UAW to end the union's strike at the company.

Persons: Shawn Fain, there’s, Fain, “, ”, I’ve, Sean O’Brien, Fran Drescher, Ted Pappageorge, Bill Greenblatt, Wheaton, Jeff Schuster, It’s, Stellantis, Bianca Flowers, Reuters “, Ray Curry, GlobalData’s Schuster, ” Shawn Fain, we’re Organizations: New, New York CNN, United Auto Workers, UAW, CNN, CNN Business, UPS, SAG, Writers Guild of America, Culinary, Kaiser Permanente, General Motors, Ford, Motors Wentzville, GM, UPI, Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, GlobalData, Jeep, Reuters, Justice Department, Chrysler, Facebook, UAW International Union Locations: New York, Las Vegas, Stellantis, Wentzville , Missouri, Kokomo , Indiana

☆ UAW aims to organize 13 nonunion automakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —The United Auto Workers union says it has started an effort to organize workers at 13 non-union automakers with US factories. The union said there are about 150,000 employees at 36 nonunion auto plants operated by the companies it is targeting in this campaign. That is slightly more than the union’s representation at the three unionized automakers, which have about 145,000 UAW members between them. But if a union organizing campaign is successful, the union will be made up of workers from the company. The union has filed complaints accusing many of the automakers of unfair labor practices during those earlier organizing efforts.

Persons: Jeff Allen, “ We’ve, ”, Allen, we’ve, “, Shawn Fain, ” Fain Organizations: New, New York CNN, United Auto Workers, General Motors, Ford, US, BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo, Toyota Camry, Lexus, UAW, Workers, Tesla Locations: New York, Georgetown , Kentucky, America, Volkswagen’s, Chattanooga , Tennessee, Canton , Mississippi, Smyrna , Tennessee

☆ U.A.W. Announces Drive to Organize Nonunion Plants
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The United Automobile Workers union announced Wednesday that it was undertaking an ambitious drive to organize plants owned by more than a dozen nonunion automakers, including Tesla and several foreign companies — a goal that has long eluded it. The move comes weeks after the U.A.W. In addition to Tesla, the targets of the drive are two other electric vehicle start-ups, Lucid and Rivian, and 10 foreign-owned automakers: Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Volkswagen, Mazda and Volvo. If the U.A.W. secures a foothold among those companies, it could signal a big shift in the American auto industry, where nonunion manufacturers have long had a significant cost advantage over the Detroit automakers.

Persons: Tesla Organizations: United Automobile Workers, General Motors, Ford Motor, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes, Benz, Subaru, Volkswagen, Mazda, Volvo, Detroit

☆ UAW launches bid to organize Tesla and 'entire non-union auto sector' in US
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers (UAW) speaks as U.S. President Joe Biden (not pictured) joins striking members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) on the picket line outside GM's Willow Run Distribution Center, in Belleville, Wayne County, Michigan, U.S., September 26, 2023. "To all the auto workers out there working without the benefits of a union, now it's your turn," UAW President Shawn Fain said in a video posted on a website urging auto workers to sign electronic cards seeking union representation. The UAW for decades has unsuccessfully sought to organize auto factories operated by foreign automakers. The website asks Tesla workers to join, saying CEO "Elon Musk is the richest man in the world, with a net worth of $230 billion. The question is, will Tesla workers get their fair share?"

Persons: Shawn Fain, Joe Biden, Evelyn Hockstein, Fain, Elon Musk, Tesla, Harley Shaiken, David Shepardson, Ben Klayman, Matthew Lewis Organizations: United Auto Workers, UAW, REUTERS, Rights, Detroit Three automakers, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes, Benz, Detroit, General Motors, Ford Motor, New York Times, Honda, Subaru, Mazda, Volvo, University of California, White, Detroit Three, Lexus ES, Union, Thomson Locations: Belleville, Wayne County , Michigan, U.S, Detroit, America, Mississippi, Tennessee, Chattanooga , Tennessee, Berkeley, Georgetown , Kentucky, Washington

☆ GM lavishes shareholders with cash weeks after saying it couldn’t afford workers’ demands
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Allison Morrow | Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

GM’s stock jumped nearly 10% on the news. The announcement comes just weeks after GM executives argued the company couldn’t afford to give the union the wage and benefit gains it wanted. The UAW strike dragged on for six weeks and shut down production in key manufacturing plants. New contracts for GM’s unionized workers in the United States and Canada will cost the company an additional $9.3 billion through 2028. Even with Wednesday’s surge in GM’s share price, the stock is trading for less than it did at the start of the strike.

Persons: Mark Reuss, “, ”, Mary Barra, Buybacks, Sen, Elizabeth Warren, Warren, ” Warren, — CNN’s Matt Egan Organizations: New, New York CNN —, Motors, GM, United Auto Workers, nonunion automakers, UAW Locations: New York, salve, United States, Canada

☆ UAW launches bid to organize Tesla and 'entire non-union auto sector'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers (UAW) speaks as U.S. President Joe Biden (not pictured) joins striking members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) on the picket line outside GM's Willow Run Distribution Center, in Belleville, Wayne County, Michigan, U.S., September 26, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers union said on Wednesday it is launching a first-of-its-kind push to publicly organize the entire nonunion auto sector after winning new contracts with the Detroit Three automakers. "To all the auto workers out there working without the benefits of a union, now it's your turn," UAW President Shawn Fain said in a video posted on a website urging auto workers to sign electronic cards seeking union representation. "I want this type of contract for all auto workers and I have a feeling the UAW has a plan for that," he said at an event with Fain. The UAW for decades has unsuccessfully sought to organize auto factories operated by foreign automakers.

Persons: Shawn Fain, Joe Biden, Evelyn Hockstein, Fain, Tesla, Elon Musk, David Shepardson, Ben Klayman, Matthew Lewis Organizations: United Auto Workers, UAW, REUTERS, Rights, Detroit Three automakers, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes, Benz, Detroit, General Motors, Ford Motor, Detroit Three, Lexus ES, Union, Thomson Locations: Belleville, Wayne County , Michigan, U.S, Detroit, Mississippi, Tennessee, Chattanooga , Tennessee, Georgetown , Kentucky, Washington

According to Fain, workers at some nonunion plants, including the electric vehicle sales leader, Tesla, have contacted the UAW about joining the union, which hasn't even begun its organizing efforts. Fain declined to say which nonunion companies the UAW would target first. The union, Fain says, also will have to organize Detroit automakers' EV battery plants, which are joint ventures with South Korean companies. He noted the concessions the UAW agreed to in 2008 to help the automakers survive dire financial problems. This time, he said, union members negotiated for themselves but also won raises for nonunion workers in the South who would have received nothing without the UAW.

Persons: Shawn Fain, —, Fain, Stellantis, Tesla, hasn't, ”, “, ” Fain, Elon Musk, ” Musk, Ford, Jim Farley, haven't, He'd Organizations: DETROIT, —, United Auto Workers, U.S, Toyota, Associated Press, UAW, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, General Motors, Ford, SpaceX, Detroit, EV, South, GM Locations: Detroit, Mexico, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Canada, U.S

☆ Here’s why the Big Three won’t need to raise car prices to pay for these labor deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

“The labor contracts don’t mean you go to a dealership and the car costs more money,” said Ivan Drury, analyst for sales tracker Edmunds. If the Big Three could simply pass along higher costs, be it raw material, labor other expenses, in the form of higher prices, no automaker would ever lose money. Even if the labor costs could be passed along in terms of higher prices, it woudn’t be nearly as much as you might think. Any additional labor costs are more likely to eat into automaker profits than they are to raise prices. Another factor driving car prices higher was the desire of consumers to buy cars with more features and options that are now available but were not available in the past.

Persons: Stellantis, it’s, ”, Ivan Drury, Edmunds, That’s, Michelle Krebs, John Lawler Organizations: New, New York CNN, United Auto Workers, General Motors, Ford, GM, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, UAW, Cox Automotive Locations: New York, “, American

☆ Hyundai to hike US hourly wages 25% by 2028 after UAW deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The logo of Hyundai Motor Company is pictured at the New York International Auto Show, in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., April 13, 2022. Hyundai Motor Group also plans higher wages at its electric-vehicle factory in the U.S. state of Georgia that will open in 2025. Hyundai said that wages are being raised so that the company can "remain competitive and ... recruit and retain top talent." Honda's pay hike was announced after Toyota said it was raising the wages of its nonunion U.S. factory workers. UAW workers are now in the process of voting on whether to ratify those contracts.

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Santa Cruz, Honda, Joe Biden, unionize Tesla, David Shepardson, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Hyundai Motor, New York, REUTERS, Hyundai, United Auto Workers, Detroit Three automakers, Toyota, Honda, U.S, UAW, General Motors, Ford Motor, Chrysler, Detroit, Hyundai Motor Group, Illinois, Thomson Locations: Manhattan , New York City, U.S, KS, Alabama, Korean, U.S ., Georgia, Santa Fe , Tucson, Santa, Montgomery , Alabama, Washington, Bengaluru

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain addresses the audience during a rally in support of striking UAW members in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 8 (Reuters) - United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said on Wednesday the union will "pull out all stops" in working to organize non-union U.S. auto plants after winning new contracts with the Detroit Three automakers. In an video interview at the Reuters Events auto conference in Detroit, Fain said the UAW is aggressively working on its organizing plans. We're going to leverage every avenue we can and we're going to find creative ways to get to workers," Fain said. Fain said the UAW deserved credit for Toyota Motor (7203.T) decision's last week to raise the wages of nonunion U.S. factory workers.

Persons: Shawn Fain, Rebecca Cook, Fain, Joe Biden, decision's, Biden, David Shepardson, Joseph White, David Gregorio Our Organizations: United Auto Workers, REUTERS, U.S, Detroit Three, Chrysler, Reuters, UAW, Toyota Motor, Toyota, nonunion, Thomson Locations: Detroit , Michigan, U.S, Belvedere , Illinois, Detroit, Illinois

He said the UAW's new contracts were so good they had even led to nonunion auto workers getting raises. Honda (7267.T) told Reuters it was evaluating the recent UAW deals with the Detroit Three automakers and would remain competitive. "If (Toyota workers) come calling, which they have, we're going to educate them and be there for them," Smith told Reuters. Toyota's move earlier this week to raise wages is in line with the strategy the Japanese automaker and other nonunion automakers have used to keep UAW organizers at bay. Nonunion automakers have kept hourly wages close to the UAW rates at the Detroit Three.

Persons: Shawn Fain, Fain, It'll, Tim Smith, Smith, Elon Musk, Toyota's, Joseph White, David Shepardson, Lisa Baertlein, Ben Klayman, Matthew Lewis, Jamie Freed Organizations: DETROIT, United Auto Workers, Detroit, Toyota, UAW, nonunion, Honda, Reuters, Detroit Three, General Motors, Ford, Louisville Assembly, GM, National Labor Relations Board, NLRB, Tesla, Thomson Locations: WASHINGTON, U.S, United States, Georgetown , Kentucky, Louisville, Tesla's Fremont , California, Fremont, Detroit, Washington, Los Angeles

Customers might assume that nonunion automakers, like Toyota, Tesla or Hyundai-Kia, will now be able to price their vehicles well below what the Detroit automakers can. “When the dust settles from this UAW debacle, the Detroit auto stalwarts find themselves with a bigger cost profile with competition increasing," said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush. That means that competition for buyers is intensifying as pent-up demand from the pandemic wanes, making it difficult for any automaker to raise prices. But if the Detroit companies report lower income, Wall Street will register its disappointment, and stock prices could fall. “You either raise your labor costs to meet what the UAW is getting or you risk the unionization drive.”

Persons: Stellantis, ”, Jonathan Smoke, pare, Dan Ives, Natalie Knight, Ram, Knight, Smoke, Shawn Fain, Fain, Art Wheaton, wouldn’t, Wheaton, Tesla, ” Wheaton Organizations: DETROIT, United Auto Workers, Detroit’s, General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Detroit, GM, Cox Automotive, UAW, Chrysler, Jeep, Cox, automakers, Detroit automakers, Cornell University, U.S Locations: United States, U.S, Stellantis, Detroit

☆ The Big Three are paying a big price to end the UAW strike, but car buyers may get spared
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Elisabeth Buchwald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Ford was the first to announce it reached a tentative agreement with the UAW on Wednesday. A brief refresherThe strike, which began nearly seven weeks ago, has been the longest US auto strike in 25 years. What will this mean for car prices? Now you’d think people in the market for a new car would pay the price, by way of higher car prices, given all the added costs the Big Three will face if the tentative deals go into effect. That’s because the historic strike doesn’t officially end until it is ratified by rank-and-file members.

Persons: —, Ford, it’s, Vanessa Yurkevich, Chris Isidore — CNN’s, there’s, CNN’s Yurkevich, Isidore Organizations: New, New York CNN, United Auto Workers, — Ford, General Motors, UAW, Anderson Economic Group, Big Three, Ford, Stellantis, GM Locations: New York

☆ U.A.W. Says It Aims to Organize Nonunion Auto Plants
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After winning major gains in wages and benefits from two of the three Detroit automakers, the United Automobile Workers union is looking beyond the Motor City to car companies operating nonunion factories across the South. president, Shawn Fain, said the union planned a push to organize plants at some of the nonunion automakers, such as Toyota, Honda and Tesla. “One of our biggest goals coming out of this historic contract victory is to organize like we’ve never organized before,” Mr. Fain said. It will be the Big Five or Big Six.”The statement was one of Mr. Fain’s clearest to date that the U.A.W. intended to renew efforts to unionize the plants of foreign-owned automakers and Tesla, which operates nonunion vehicle plants in California and Texas.

Persons: Shawn Fain, ” Mr, Fain Organizations: Detroit automakers, United Automobile Workers, Facebook, Toyota, Honda, Tesla Locations: Motor City, California, Texas

☆ Nonunion Workers Are Playing a Big Role in the Autoworkers’ Strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Jack Ewing | More About Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Executives at Ford Motor, General Motors and Stellantis, the parent of Chrysler, invoke nonunion automakers, many of them in the South, as a competitive threat that makes it impossible for them to meet striking workers’ demands for big raises, more generous benefits and better working conditions. “Toyota, Honda, Tesla and others are loving this strike because they know the longer it goes on, the better it is for them,” Bill Ford, the executive chair of Ford Motor, said in Michigan last week. “They will win, and all of us will lose.”The United Automobile Workers union sees such statements as an attempt to play workers off one another. It views the strikes, entering their sixth week, as a first step toward better pay for not only U.A.W. members but also the nonunion workers that it plans to recruit in the future.

Persons: Tesla, Bill Ford, “ Organizations: Toyota, Benz, Ford Motor, General Motors, Chrysler, Honda, United Automobile Workers Locations: Kentucky, Alabama, Texas, Detroit, Michigan

☆ For Bill Ford, ‘Every Negotiation Is a Roller Coaster’
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As a 25-year-old junior executive at the car company that bears his last name, William Clay Ford Jr. had a bracing introduction to labor negotiations when a union official demanded that he stand up and vouch that he was made of the same stuff as his great-grandfather Henry Ford. Mr. Ford, now the company’s executive chairman, harked back to the moment in an interview this week about how he and his company are navigating one of their most difficult labor negotiations in decades. The United Automobile Workers union has shut down three Ford plants, including its largest, and other plants and distribution centers at General Motors and Stellantis, which owns Chrysler. He has referred to the companies as “the enemy,” and has said the union is fighting “corporate greed” and standing up to the “billionaire class.”In a speech this week, Mr. Ford said the strikes were helping nonunion automakers like Tesla, Toyota and Honda. Mr. Fain responded that workers at those companies were future U.A.W.

Persons: William Clay Ford Jr, Henry Ford, Ford, harked, Shawn Fain, Fain Organizations: United Automobile Workers, General Motors, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda

The union is also seeking cost-of-living adjustments that would nudge wages higher to compensate for inflation. As of last Friday, the companies offered to raise pay by around 14.5 percent to 20 percent over four years. It was not clear how much progress the union and the companies have made on the other issues. The companies say that they are investing billions in a transition to battery-powered vehicles, which makes it harder for them to pay substantially higher wages. They say they are at a disadvantage compared with nonunion automakers like Tesla, which dominates the sales of electric cars.

Persons: G.M, ” Ford, ”

But there’s a good chance at least some of them, at a mix of plants and companies, will walk out. Those limited, targeted strikes could be enough to grind production to a halt at America’s three unionized automakers. One advantage for the union of a targeted strike is the potential to save resources and extend a possible walkout. Striking union members are eligible for $500 a week from the union’s strike fund. The companies did not respond to questions Wednesday about their plans if faced with the targeted strikes Fain described on Wednesday.

Persons: Shawn Fain, Fain, Jeff Schuster, ”, Schuster, Jim Farley, Farley, Bill Ford, ” Farley, “, ” Ford, can’t, “ We’re, Patrick Anderson, Anderson, That’s, Ford Organizations: Detroit CNN, General Motors, Ford, United Auto Workers, UAW, America ’, GlobalData, GM, Detroit Auto, Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, Anderson Economic Group, Fiat Chrysler, PSA Group Locations: America, Detroit, North America, Michigan, Edmunds, That’s, European

☆ Ford’s former CEO has a stark warning for both the UAW and automakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

“The automakers can’t plead poverty,” Fields told CNN on Wednesday, noting the industry’s recent string of profitable years. [Automakers’] CEO pay went up 40%. “But I do think he’s quite misplaced in that if there’s a work stoppage… there will be lots of people hurt,” the former Ford CEO said. However, economists say a UAW strike is unlikely to cause a recession, though it would do damage to local economies and parts suppliers. You can’t fault them for trying to deal with inflation that is hurting their families,” the former Chrysler CEO said.

Persons: Mark Fields, ” Fields, “, ”, Jim Farley, Fields, CNN’s Vanessa Yurkevich, “ We’re, ” Farley, Shawn Fain, ’, ” Fain, Jake Tapper, Bob Nardelli, ” Nardelli, Goldman Sachs, “ It’s, Fain, Nardelli, Ron Gettelfinger, Ford, CNN’s Chris Isidore Organizations: New York CNN Business —, Detroit, Ford, GM, CNN, Chrysler, United Auto Workers, UAW, UPS, American Airlines, West Coast, TPG Capital, Anderson Economic Group, Big Locations: Mexico, Chihuahua

☆ Two neighboring Ohio factories - one new, one closed - could tell the future of US auto industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The Lordstown plant opened in 1966; GM closed it just months before its contract with the UAW expired in 2019. The former GM plant in Lordstown, Ohio. The Ultium plant, just over a third of the size of the closed Lordstown plant, started building batteries last August. Justin Brown’s father worked at the Lordstown plant for nearly nearly 50 years; Brown, for 10 years. Some Ultium workers said they took the lower-paying job with the expectation that they would someday make GM-level pay.

Persons: Lordstown, ”, David Green, Foxconn, Fisker, Chris Isidore, isn’t, Eric Manaro, “, EVs, Ultium, autoworkers, “ It’s, Justin Brown’s, Brown, “ I’m, George Goranitis, it’s Organizations: Ohio CNN, Lordstown Assembly, Pentagon, Motors, United Auto Workers, GM, UAW, EV, Lordstown Motors, CNN, Ohio Turnpike, ”, LG, Ultium, Ford, “, General Motors, Big Locations: Lordstown, Ohio, It’d, Indiana, Lordstown , Ohio, Missouri, Spring Hill , Tennessee, Spring, Ultium

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