Summary:
- 97% of UAW workers voted to authorize a strike if automakers do not agree to a fair deal.
- UAW's demands include a wage increase, pension restoration, cost of living increases, shorter workweek, and improved retiree benefits.
- UAW President Sean Fane describes this as the largest contract campaign in decades.
- The procedural strike authorization vote took place 20 days before the current contract expiration.
- The UAW possesses over $825 million in its strike fund.
We're down to 20 days before the UAW's contract with the Big Three expires. And today, as expected, Union Rank and File voted to authorize leaders to call a strike against the Big Three.
Days after holding a practice picket outside the Stellantis plant on Detroit's east side, 97% of UAW members voted to authorize a strike as negotiations with GM, Ford, and Stellantis continue to stall. The Union's demands include a 46% wage increase, restoration of traditional pensions, cost of living increases, reducing the workweek to 32 hours, and increasing retiree benefits. UAW President Sean Fane called it the biggest contract campaign the Union has seen in decades.
'We're fed up with seeing Big Three profits break the bank while we're breaking our backs,' said Fane. The procedural vote came just 20 days before the current contract with the Big Three expires. The UAW has more than $825 million in its strike fund, which it uses to pay eligible members who are on strike.
Reporting live in Detroit, Jacqueline Francis, Local Four. So the watch goes on.