UAW Expands Strike, Sending 25,000 To The Picket Line

WAYNE, MICHIGAN – SEPTEMBER 26: UAW workers picket outside of Ford’s Wayne Assembly Plant on September 26, 2023 in Wayne, Michigan. President Joe Biden traveled to the Detroit area to visit with striking auto workers in Michigan today. Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is expected to hold a rally in nearby Clinton Township tomorrow evening.
Photo: Scott Olson (Getty Images)

The ongoing United Auto Workers strike against the Big 3 expanded Friday to a Ford plant in Chicago and a GM plant in Lansing, Michigan, bringing the total of workers on the picket line next week to 25,000.

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The strike will be entering its third week come Monday, and included plants across the country under Stellantis, Ford, and GM. There was a plant closure initially planned for Stellantis, but it gets a pass on this round of strikes thanks to a last-minute call moments before UAW President Shawn Fain announced further closures, according to Reuters:

“Despite our willingness to bargain Ford and GM have refused to make meaningful progress,” Fain said in a video address Friday morning. He noted that prior to his announcement, the UAW had seen a “flurry” of interest from the companies on Friday morning.

The UAW is demanding higher wages and an end to the tiered employment system which leaves newer workers making much lower wages than workers with seniority. In the first week, the UAW shuttered one plant from each automaker. It then expanded those closures to locations in 20 states.

This is the first time the UAW has gone on strike against all three of the Michigan-based automakers at once. The historic labor action drew President Joesph Biden to Michigan on Tuesday so that he could become the first sitting president to walk a picket line. Former President Donald Trump also came to Michigan, though he held an event at a non-union auto shop with more people than the business had workers.

Reuters reports talks remain very active between the two parties.