WASHINGTON, July 28 (Reuters) - More than half of the Senate's Democrats are backing the United Auto Workers' push for higher wages and benefits for workers at Detroit Three automakers' joint venture battery plants, they said in a letter released on Friday.
UAW leaders have sought to secure support from Washington as negotiations opened earlier this month, with UAW President Shawn Fain meeting with lawmakers and President Joe Biden last week.
In their letter to the CEOs of the Detroit Three and battery joint ventures, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer joined Senators Sherrod Brown, Ron Wyden, Bernie Sanders, Richard Durbin and others in urging the automakers to embrace the joint venture battery workers before the current contract expires.
Stellantis said it respects the UAW's right to organize future hourly employees at its joint venture battery facilities, adding: " The joint venture intends to offer very competitive wages and benefits."
Last month, the union chief criticized $9.2 billion federal loan to a Ford/South Korea's SK On joint venture.
Persons:
Shawn Fain, Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer, Sherrod Brown, Ron Wyden, Bernie Sanders, Richard Durbin, Ford, Stellantis, Jim Farley, Bill Ford, Biden, Biden's, Fain, David Shepardson, Susan Heavey
Organizations:
United Auto Workers, Detroit, automakers, General Motors, Ford Motor, Chrysler, UAW, Workers, EVs, SK On, South Korea's SK Innovation, Reuters, Ford, Korea's SK, LG Energy, Thomson
Locations:
United States, Washington, South, KS, Ohio