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☆ U.A.W. Expands Strike to a Ram Plant in Michigan
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a major escalation of its six-week strike at the three large U.S. automakers, the United Automobile Workers union on Monday told 6,800 workers at a large Ram pickup truck plant in Michigan to walk off the job. Union workers at the plant, which is owned by Stellantis, the parent of Ram, Chrysler and Jeep, in Sterling Heights, Mich., joined the strike on Monday morning. The walkout at the Ram plant is the first escalation in the strikes since the U.A.W. called 8,700 workers to leave their jobs at Ford Motor’s largest plant, in Louisville, Ky., on Oct. 11. That plant produces the Super Duty version of the company’s popular F-150 truck and the Ford Expedition, a full-size sport-utility vehicle.

Persons: Ram, “ Stellantis Organizations: U.S, United Automobile Workers, Stellantis, Chrysler, Jeep, Ford, Ford Expedition Locations: Michigan, Sterling Heights, Mich, United States, Ford Motor’s, Louisville, Ky

☆ 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

☆ U.A.W. Widens Strikes at G.M. and Stellantis, but Cites Progress in Ford Talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The United Automobile Workers union on Friday significantly raised the pressure on General Motors and Stellantis, the parent of Jeep and Ram, by expanding its strike against the companies to include all the spare parts distribution centers of the two companies. Shawn Fain, the union’s president, said Friday that workers at 38 distribution centers, which provide parts to dealerships for repairs, at the two companies would walk off the job at noon. He said talks with two companies had not progressed significantly, contrasting them with Ford Motor, which he said had done more to meet the union’s demands. “We will shut down parts distribution centers until those two companies come to their senses and come to the bargaining table,” Mr. Fain said. distribution centers that employ a total of 3,475 workers, and 20 Stellantis centers with 2,150 U.A.W.

Persons: Shawn Fain, “, Mr, Fain Organizations: United Automobile Workers, General Motors, Jeep, Ford Motor

☆ Ford Reaches a Labor Deal in Canada as U.S. Talks Inch Along
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Unifor’s talks with Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, which owns Chrysler, Jeep and Ram, started on Aug. 10 but have been overshadowed by the U.A.W. Ford has an assembly plant and two engine plants in Canada. Unifor selected Ford as the “target” of its talks, meaning it focused on securing the best deal it could from the company before turning to the other two automakers. Ford’s deal in Canada appears to have little bearing on the U.A.W. ; a Ford truck and sport-utility vehicle plant in Wayne, Mich.; and a Stellantis S.U.V.

Persons: Unifor’s, Ram, Ford, Unifor Organizations: Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Jeep, ’ Locations: United States, Canada, Wentzville, Mo, Wayne, Mich, Toledo , Ohio

☆ U.A.W. Threatens Strikes at More Plants
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

members walked off the assembly lines at three plants last Friday, one each at the three companies — General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, the parent of Chrysler. The union has demanded a 40 percent wage increase over four years, better benefits and other changes. The automakers, which are based in or have a big presence in Michigan, have offered raises of about half as much. In a video posted on Facebook on Tuesday, the union’s new president, Shawn Fain, said workers could walk out of more plants at the end of this week. “If we don’t see serious progress to noon Friday, Sept. 22, more locals will be called on to stand up and go on strike,” he said.

Persons: Shawn Fain, ”, “ We’re Organizations: United Auto Workers, U.S, Motors, Ford Motor, Chrysler, Facebook Locations: Michigan

☆ Union and 3 Detroit Automakers Resume Talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The United Auto Workers union and the three Detroit automakers on Saturday resumed negotiations on a new labor contract as a targeted strike entered its second day. The union is striking against all three manufacturers — General Motors, Ford and Stellantis — but for now has limited the work stoppages to one plant at each of the companies: a Ford plant in Michigan, a G.M. plant in Missouri and a Stellantis plant in Ohio. “We had reasonably productive conversations with Ford today,” the union said in a statement. On Friday Ford said it had told 600 workers who are not part of the strike not to report to work, and G.M.

Persons: “, Ford Organizations: United Auto Workers, Detroit, Motors, Ford, G.M Locations: Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Kansas

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, ”

At a rally in downtown Detroit on Friday, just a couple of hundred yards from the headquarters of General Motors, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont addressed a cheering crowd of United Auto Workers members, capping a day of walkouts by the union with an effort to rally support for the strike. “The fight you are waging here is not just about decent wages and working conditions and pensions in the auto industry,” Mr. Sanders said. “It’s a fight to take on corporate greed and tell the people on top the country belongs to all of us, not just the few.”The rally took place along Detroit’s riverfront, near the city’s iconic Renaissance Center towers, home to G.M. headquarters. Also nearby is the Huntington Place convention center, where auto executives were gathering for a black-tie charity ball to kick off the 2023 Detroit auto show.

Persons: Bernie Sanders, Sanders, —, ” Mr, “ Organizations: General Motors, United Auto Workers, Big Three, Ford Locations: Detroit, Vermont, walkouts, United States, G.M

Rodney Cornett got up at 4:30 a.m. on Friday, hopped in his F-150 pickup and reported as usual for a morning shift at the Ford Motor plant in Wayne, a gritty city just west of Detroit. But this morning Mr. Cornett, 56, a veteran union member who has worked at Ford for 28 years, wasn’t heading to the axle assembly area where he’s a team leader. “We really haven’t had much of a raise in 15 years,” Mr. Cornett said, holding a sign that read, “Fair Pay Now!” while cars and trucks constantly whizzed by, honking in support of the strikers. “We’ve gone through several contracts, and the company keeps saying how they’re hurting, but they’re making record profits. has been negotiating a new labor contract with the three Detroit automakers, but since the sides remain far apart on wages and most other issues, the union called a strike that began when the current bargaining agreement expired at midnight.

Persons: Rodney Cornett, Cornett, “, ” Mr, “ We’ve Organizations: Ford, United Auto Workers, Detroit Locations: Wayne, Detroit

☆ U.A.W. Set to Begin Walkouts as Deadline Nears With No Contract Deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The United Automobile Workers union said late Thursday that its members were set to walk off the production lines in three plants in three states at midnight in what would be the first strike simultaneously affecting all three Detroit automakers. The union and the companies — General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, the parent of Chrysler — remained deadlocked in negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement with the current contract set to expire at 11:59 p.m. As the deadline neared, workers started to fan out at the plants to protest. At the outset, the strike would idle one plant owned at each automaker, and could force the automakers to halt production at other locations, shaking local economies in factory towns across the Midwest. “We are using a new strategy,” the union’s president, Shawn Fain, said in a video streamed via Facebook. “We are calling on select locals to stand up and go out on strike.”

Persons: Chrysler —, Shawn Fain, ” Organizations: United Automobile Workers, Detroit automakers, Motors, Ford Motor, Chrysler, Facebook

☆ U.A.W. Strike Looms Over Detroit Auto Show
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

He added that workers at all three companies were prepared to strike and stay away from their factory stations as long as it took to win big gains. But a prolonged strike would almost certainly jeopardize the automakers’ plans to roll out new cars and trucks to take advantage of still strong demand. The auto industry has spent much of the last three years struggling to produce enough vehicles because of pandemic shutdowns and supply chain chaos. Those other automakers operate U.S. plants that use nonunion workers and their production is unlikely to be affected directly by the strike. The Detroit show, officially the North American International Auto Show, was once one of the premier auto expositions in the world.

Organizations: North American Locations: Texas, Detroit, Michigan

☆ U.A.W. Prepares for Partial Strike Against Detroit Automakers on Friday
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Barely 24 hours before the contract deadline, the United Auto Workers leader said Wednesday that his members were prepared for a strike against the three Detroit automakers — first at a limited number of factories, with the walkout expanding if talks remain bogged down. “September 14 is a deadline, not a reference point,” he declared in an address to union members on Facebook Live. He said the initial strike locations would be “limited and targeted,” and would be communicated to members on Thursday night ahead of a Friday walkout. This tactic — a departure from the union’s usual strategy of staging an all-out strike against a single automaker chosen as a target — is intended to give the U.A.W. negotiators increased leverage in the talks, and to keep the manufacturers off balance.

Persons: Shawn Fain, ” Organizations: United Auto Workers, Detroit automakers —, General Motors, Ford Motor, Facebook

☆ Automakers and U.A.W. Remain Far Apart as Contract Deadline Nears
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The United Auto Workers union and the three established U.S. automakers remain far apart on wages and other issues with less than a week to go before contracts covering 150,000 union workers expire. So far, the companies — General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, the parent of Chrysler — have offered to raise pay by 14 percent to 16 percent over four years. Their offers include lump sum payments to help ease the impact of inflation, and policy changes that would lift the pay of recent hires and temporary workers, who typically earn about a third less than veteran union members. He has been seeking pay increases of about 40 percent and repeatedly warned that workers were ready to leave assembly lines when the current collective bargaining agreements with the automakers expire on Thursday. “We are prepared to strike, and we are ready,” said Jason Garza, a parts molder at G.M.’s technical center in Warren, Mich. “We want a fair contract, and I have a strong feeling it will be solidarity across the board.”

Persons: Shawn Fain, “, ”, Jason Garza Organizations: United Auto Workers, Motors, Ford Motor, Chrysler Locations: U.S, G.M, Warren, Mich

Federal auto safety regulators moved Tuesday toward a recall of about 52 million airbag inflaters used by a dozen major carmakers, calling the parts unsafe and susceptible to rupture. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration scheduled a public meeting on Oct. 5 on its recommendation to recall the airbags, manufactured by ARC Automotive and Delphi Automotive Systems. ARC rejected the agency’s initial findings that its airbags were defective. Of the 52 million airbags, 41 million were manufactured by ARC and 11 million were produced by Delphi using a design licensed by ARC. The airbags were variously made in China, Mexico and Knoxville, Tenn., and were used by a dozen major carmakers: BMW, Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Kia, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Stellantis, Tesla, Toyota and Volkswagen.

Organizations: Traffic Safety Administration, ARC Automotive, Delphi Automotive Systems, ARC, Delphi, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Kia, Maserati, Mercedes, Benz, Porsche, Toyota, Volkswagen Locations: United States, China, Mexico, Knoxville, Tenn

☆ Auto Strike Looms, Threatening to Shut Detroit’s Big 3
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“If that happens, even a short strike would impact economies throughout Michigan and across the nation,” said Patrick Anderson, the chief executive of the Anderson Economic Group in East Lansing, Mich. The terms of the new contract will determine how both autoworkers and the companies fare in an E.V.-centric industry. deserves a contract that sustains the middle class” and has named a White House liaison to the union and the automakers. An agreement before the contracts expire on Sept. 14 is still possible, and talks could continue beyond that date without a walkout. But Mr. Fain has repeatedly said he views Sept. 14 as a deadline — the day a strike could begin.

Persons: ”, Patrick Anderson, Biden, Fain Organizations: Anderson Economic Group Locations: Michigan, East Lansing, Mich

☆ Autoworkers Vote to Authorize Strikes if Negotiations Fail
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

G.M., Ford and Stellantis have suggested they will probably agree to some form of higher wages. A fresh indication of how the talks may go came on Thursday, when an Ohio battery plant owned jointly by G.M. Mr. Fain had repeatedly criticized wages at the plant, which had started at about $16 an hour, as being too low. said in July that it expected to earn more than $9.3 billion this year, about $1 billion more than a previous forecast. Ford expects earnings before taxes of $11 billion to $12 billion this year.

Persons: Fain, Fain’s, Tesla, Ram, Ford Organizations: Ford, G.M, LG Energy, Chrysler, Jeep Locations: Ohio, Korean, G.M, United States, Amsterdam, North America

☆ Automakers Face a Labor Showdown as the E.V. Era Looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-06 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

also hopes to push Stellantis to reopen a plant in Belvidere, Ill., that was idled this year, putting 1,350 people out of work. Mr. Fain said many workers typically worked 50 or 60 hours a week, leaving little time for family activities or rest. Stellantis said it intended to “fairly reward” its workers but warned that any agreement must not “jeopardize our ability to continue investing” in new vehicles and technologies. The automakers are investing tens of billions of dollars in electric vehicles but have yet to see significant sales or profits from them. The union is concerned that the move to E.V.s could cost thousands of jobs because electric vehicles generally require fewer workers to produce than traditional gasoline-powered cars and trucks.

Persons: Fain, G.M, “, ” Ford, Stellantis Organizations: nonunionized Locations: Belvidere , Ill

☆ Ford’s Profit Jumped in Second Quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ford Motor earned $1.9 billion from April to June, up from $667 million a year earlier, the company said on Thursday. Robust sales of gasoline-powered trucks and sport-utility vehicles more than offset a substantial loss on electric models. The automaker reported revenue of $45 billion, up 12 percent from a year earlier, and said it had sold 1.1 million vehicles around the world, an 8 percent increase. Ford said it had lost $1.1 billion before interest and taxes on its electric vehicle business in the quarter, more than twice as much as it lost a year earlier. Ford now expects to lose $4.5 billion before interest and taxes on battery-powered cars and trucks in 2023, it said on Thursday, up from an earlier forecast of a $3 billion loss.

Persons: Ford Organizations: Ford Motor

☆ Slow Battery Production Crimps G.M.’s Electric Vehicle Rollout
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

General Motors is investing tens of billions of dollars to produce a bevy of new electric vehicles and, it hopes, catch up to Tesla. This year, it is struggling to produce a new type of electric car battery pack meant for the electric vehicles it plans to introduce over the next several years. built just 50,000 electric vehicles, and most of them used an older battery pack made by a supplier. In the United States, G.M. sold fewer than 2,800 vehicles that used its new, modular Ultium battery packs, being made at an Ohio factory that the company owns with LG Energy Solution.

Persons: “ It’s, Paul Jacobson Organizations: Motors, LG Energy Locations: United States, Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan

Carvana, the troubled used-car retailer, on Wednesday announced that it had reached a debt restructuring agreement with most of its bondholders in an effort to lower interest payments over at least the next two years and put its business on more solid financial footing. But Carvana took on a lot of debt, made a big acquisition and was unprepared for falling used car prices and rising interest rates. Carvana said its restructuring agreement covered more than $5 billion of senior, unsecured bonds and included the participation of Apollo Global Management, its largest bondholder. The interest on that new debt will be paid in kind for the next two years, meaning the principal Carvana owes will increase but the company won’t have to make about $430 million in interest payments in cash. The new debt will also come due later than the old notes.

Persons: Carvana Organizations: Wednesday, Apollo Global Management

☆ Ford Slashes Price of Electric F-150 as Demand Weakens
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ford Motor on Monday reduced prices of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck by between $6,000 and nearly $10,000, the latest sign of sluggish demand for electric vehicles. The price cuts come as inventories of unsold electric vehicles are rising on dealer lots, and follow several rounds of discounting by Tesla, the dominant seller of electric cars. Ford is lowering prices after it temporarily halted production of the truck this year to upgrade its assembly line and increase output. By the fall, the company expects its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center near Detroit to be able to churn out 150,000 Lightnings a year, triple its current production capacity. Competition in the electric vehicle business is growing more intense.

Persons: Tesla Organizations: Ford, Electric Vehicle, General Motors, Chevrolet Silverado Locations: Detroit

☆ Autoworkers Open Contract Talks in a Fighting Mood
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The three Detroit automakers and the United Auto Workers union have begun negotiating a new labor contract in what could become the most contentious talks between the two sides in perhaps half a century. elected a president who has vowed to win back many of the wage and benefit concessions the union has ceded over the last two decades. Shawn Fain, an outsider candidate, prevailed in an upset election victory over the incumbent U.A.W. president this year largely by promising to take a more militant approach to contract negotiations than his recent predecessors. Our union is united.

Persons: Shawn Fain, ” Mr, Fain, ” Organizations: Detroit, United Auto Workers, Motors, Ford Motor Locations: North America, Detroit

☆ Gerald C. Meyers, C.E.O. Who Paved Way for the S.U.V., Dies at 94
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

His death was announced by his daughter Susan Meyers. In 1970, as a senior manufacturing executive, Mr. Meyers was tasked with evaluating a possible acquisition of Kaiser Jeep. But the board proceeded anyway — and put Mr. Meyers in charge. To appeal to more consumers, he upgraded existing Jeeps with better engines, suspensions and interiors, and directed the development of a new wagon, the Jeep Cherokee. Sales soon surged, steadying AMC’s shaky finances and driving consumer interest in roomy off-road vehicles.

Persons: Gerald C, Meyers, Susan Meyers, Kaiser Jeep, steadying Organizations: American Motors Corporation, American Motors, Ford Motor, Chrysler, AMC, General Motors, Kaiser, Jeep Locations: West Bloomfield, Mich, United States, roomy

☆ Ford’s U.S. Sales Rose 10% in the Second Quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ford Motor said Thursday that its new-vehicle sales rose 10 percent in the three months between April and June, thanks to robust demand for trucks. The automaker sold 531,662 motor vehicles, up from 483,688 in the second quarter of the year, as sales of pickups, delivery vans and heavy trucks increased 26 percent. The gain in truck sales more than offset a decline of nearly 3 percent in sales of electric vehicles. Ford sold 14,843 battery-powered cars and trucks in the quarter, down from 15,273 in the same period a year earlier. The upgrade work mainly affected the Mustang Mach-E, whose sales declined 21 percent in the second quarter.

Persons: Ford Organizations: Ford Motor, Ford

☆ New Car Sales Jumped in the Second Quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At the end of June, dealers had about 1.8 million vehicles in stock, nearly 800,000 more than at the same point in 2022, according to Cox data. At the same time, however, higher interest rates and higher car prices have put new-car purchases out of reach of many consumers. Cox estimated that total sales of new cars and trucks rose 11.6 percent in the first half of the year, to 7.65 million. The firm now expects full-year sales to top 15 million, which would be a rise of 8 percent. Toyota said its U.S. sales rose 7 percent, to 568,962 cars and light trucks.

Persons: Smoke, Cox Organizations: Cox, Toyota, Chrysler

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