In his latest Facebook live address to the public, UAW President Shawn Fain announced that there would be no new locations on strike this week, thanks to progress made in Ford and Stellantis negotiations and a last-minute concession by General Motors. In a move Fain said “leapfrogged” progress with the other two companies, General Motors delivered an agreement in writing that its electric-vehicle battery plants would be represented by its master agreement with the UAW.
Independently, on Monday, about 4,000 UAW members at Mack Trucks locations in three states walked out after voting down a tentative agreement by 73%.
The Friday address on the Detroit 3 strikes, scheduled to begin at 2 o’clock, began about fifteen minutes late. In his remarks, Fain implied that the battery agreement had only come through in the last minute—and that, before it had, he was prepared to announce a shutdown of General Motors’ Arlington, Texas factory.
“If it wasn’t clear already, things move fast,” Fain said on Facebook. “It’s hard to give an update that won’t be obsolete by the time the update’s done.”
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With no new strike locations to announce, Fain focused on the progress he said has already been made during negotiations. Ford, he said, was now offering 23% wage increases, ahead of General Motors and Stellantis, both offering “about 20%.”
On cost-of-living-adjustments, Fain said Stellantis N.V. and Ford had both agreed to return to the 2007-standard formula and said General Motors “is not far behind.”
Then, on Monday, October 9, UAW-represented workers at Mack Truck locations in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Florida walked out after rejecting a tentative agreement reached October 1. According to the UAW, the October 1 tentative agreement was made with “just minutes” before the deadline.
In a statement from the union Monday, Fain said he was “inspired to see UAW members at Mack Trucks holding out for a better deal.”
President Stephen Roy of Mack said in a statement his company was “surprised and disappointed that the UAW has chosen to strike, which we feel is unnecessary.” Roy pointed out that the tentative agreement had been endorsed not only by the UAW Mack Truck Council, but also the International UAW.
Between the UAW workers currently engaging in a partial strike at General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis locations across the U.S. and now the striking Mack Truck workers, the UAW now has over 30,000 members striking across 22 states.
