UAW Sets Deadline for Negotiations with Big Three Automakers, Threatens Additional Strikes if No Progress is Made

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union has announced that it will call for additional strikes at General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis plants if negotiations do not make “serious progress” by noon ET on Friday, September 22nd. This announcement comes after the union declared targeted strikes at assembly plants for each of the “Big Three” Detroit automakers, sending about 12,700 workers to picket lines.

The workers are determined to claw back earlier concessions that lowered payscales for new workers and sacrificed hard-won standards enjoyed by their parents and grandparents, including defined-benefit pension plans. They are fighting to restore their jobs to the gold-standard working-class careers they were in previous generations.

The UAW’s President Shawn Fain said in a video statement that “Noon on Friday, September 22nd is a new deadline” for the negotiations. If the sides do not make progress by then, the union will call for additional strikes.

The auto industry has seen a drop in wages of nearly 20% since 2008 when adjusted for inflation. This is the first time in the UAW’s 88-year history that Ford, General Motors and Jeep parent company Stellantis are facing simultaneous strikes.

The UAW and the automakers are currently in negotiations for new four-year contracts. It remains to be seen if the sides will make “serious progress” by the September 22nd deadline, or if additional strikes will be called.