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Before autoworkers went on strike in September, Dave and Bailey Hodge were struggling to juggle the demands of working at a Ford Motor plant in Michigan and raising their young family. Both were working 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, to earn enough to cover monthly bills, car payments and the mortgage on a home they had recently bought. They were also saving for the things they hoped life would eventually bring — vacations, college for their two children and retirement. Some days, she’d see her 8-year-old son off to school in the morning. She’d fall asleep with her 14-month-old daughter lying between her and Dave.

Persons: autoworkers, Dave, Bailey Hodge, “, ” Ms, Hodge, she’d, She’d Organizations: Ford Locations: Michigan

Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicA wave of strikes that has paralyzed the auto industry came to an end on Monday, when the last of the three big car manufacturers, General Motors, reached a deal with the United Automobile Workers union. Neal E. Boudette, who covers the auto industry for The Times, discusses the historic deal and why it was such a big win for workers.

Persons: Neal E, Boudette Organizations: Spotify, General Motors, United Automobile Workers, The Times

☆ G.M. Said to Reach Tentative Deal With U.A.W.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The agreement comes days after the union announced tentative agreements with Ford Motor and Stellantis on new contracts. The three deals contain many of the same or similar terms, including a 25 percent general wage increase for U.A.W. The tentative agreement with G.M., the largest U.S. car company by sales, requires approval by a union council that oversees negotiations with the company, and then ratification by a majority of its 46,000 U.A.W. The most recent escalation of the strike came on Saturday, shortly after the union reached a deal with Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, Jeep and Ram. told workers to go on strike at G.M.’s plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., that makes several sport utility vehicle models.

Persons: Ram Organizations: Motors, United Automobile Workers, U.S, automakers, Ford Motor, G.M, Stellantis, Chrysler, Jeep Locations: U.S, Missouri , Michigan , Tennessee, Texas, G.M, Spring Hill, Tenn

☆ 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

☆ U.A.W. Reaches Tentative Deal With Stellantis, Following Ford
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The United Automobile Workers union reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract with Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, Jeep and Ram, on Saturday, a person familiar with the matter said on Saturday. The agreement comes three days after the union and Ford Motor announced a tentative agreement on a new contract. The two deals contain many of the same or similar terms, including a 25 percent general wage increase for U.A.W. The tentative agreement with Stellantis will require approval by a union council that oversees negotiations with the company, and then ratification by U.A.W. The deal with Stellantis means that only General Motors has not yet reached an agreement with the U.A.W.

Persons: U.A.W Organizations: United Automobile Workers, Stellantis, Chrysler, Jeep, Ford Motor, Motors

When autoworkers went on strike in September, executives of the large U.S. automakers warned that union demands could significantly undermine their ability to compete in a fast-changing industry. The chief executive of Ford Motor said that the company might have to scrap its investment in electric vehicles. Ford’s cost will rise under the terms of the new contract, which includes a 25 percent raise over four and a half years, improved retirement benefits and other provisions. But analysts said those increases should be manageable. If anything, he said, the deal will help Ford, in part because the four-year contract ensures there will be no labor strife during an intense phase of the transition to electric vehicles.

Persons: autoworkers, Ram, ”, Joshua Murray, Ford Organizations: Ford Motor, Ford, United Automobile Workers, General Motors, Chrysler, Vanderbilt University

Altogether, about 45,000 workers at Ford, G.M. and Stellantis are on strike across the country, including 8,700 workers at Ford’s Kentucky truck plant in Louisville, the company’s largest, and almost 10,000 others at Ford factories in Illinois and Michigan. The tentative deal with Ford could increase pressure on the other companies to reach an agreement with the union. In the past, once the union reached a deal with one automaker, tentative agreements with the others quickly followed. Last week, Ford’s executive chairman, William C. Ford Jr., said the union’s demands risked damaging the ability of Detroit automakers to compete against nonunion companies like Tesla and foreign rivals.

Persons: Shawn Fain, William C, Ford Jr, ”, “ Organizations: Ford, Detroit automakers, Toyota, Honda Locations: Ford’s Kentucky, Louisville, Illinois, Michigan

☆ G.M. Profit Down 7% in Strike-Affected Quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

said the strike had lowered its earnings before interest and taxes by about $200 million in the final weeks of the third quarter, and by about $600 million since the fourth quarter started on Oct. 1. The automaker also estimated that the strike could cost it $200 million a week going forward. gave the union a contract offer that included a 23 percent increase in wages over four years. wage from $32 an hour to more than $40. At that wage, an employee working 40 hours a week would earn about $84,000 a year, not including extra pay for overtime or profit-sharing bonuses, which have topped $10,000 in the past two years.

Persons: Motors, “, ’, Paul Jacobson, G.M Organizations: United Automobile Workers

☆ 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

☆ Biden Joins U.A.W. Strike President Heads to Picket Line in Michigan to Court Autoworkers
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Katie Rogers | Neal Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

The high-profile contract fights have played out across the country, just as public opinion has been turning more in favor of organized labor. UPSThe union representing more than 325,000 UPS workers, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, spent months negotiating a new contract with the company. The workers’ key demands included better pay for part-time workers, whom the company relies on heavily during busy periods, and improved heat safety. The work stoppage has grown in scope since, with the union expanding its strike to include spare-parts distribution centers for G.M. has pointed to growth in profits and chief executive compensation in making its demands for improved compensation for its members.

Persons: they’ve, —, Shawn Fain Organizations: United Automobile Workers, SAG, Writers Guild of America, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Gallup, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Hollywood, Guild of America, UPS, United Auto Workers, U.S, — Ford, General Motors, Teamsters Locations: Hollywood, Staten

☆ 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

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

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, ”

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

Later this week, as many as 150,000 U.S. autoworkers may walk out in a historic strike against the three Detroit automakers, General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. The United Auto Workers union and the Big Three are still far apart in talks, and have only two days left to negotiate a new labor contract before the deadline. Neal Boudette, who covers the auto industry for The New York Times, walks us through a tangled, decades-long dynamic and explains why a walkout looks increasingly likely.

Persons: Neal Boudette Organizations: Detroit, General Motors, Ford, United Auto Workers, The New York Times

☆ 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

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