UAW strike: union to resume contract negotiations on Saturday – as it happened
Plans to restart negotiations come after about 13,0000 workers walked out of three factories run by Ford, General Motors and Stellantis
As we wait for Joe Biden to deliver remarks on the UAW strikes, here is what industry experts and lawmakers are saying about the strikes, Reuters reports:
Arthur Wheaton, director of labor studies at the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations says:
It's not a devastating hit to the communities. It's not a devastating hit for the strike fund. It's not a devastating hit on the balance sheet for any of the automakers but it starts to raise the stakes, which was the intent.
I think they are making progress at the table ... the initial (automaker) offers were much lower, like 9% (wage) increases and now you're up to 20% for increases. So that's more than double. You're seeing the UAW come down. You're no longer hearing anything about the 32-hour work week from the UAW," he added.
This is more of a symbolic strike than an actual damaging one ... If the negotiations don't go in a direction that [UAW President Shawn] Fain thinks is positive, we can fully expect a larger strike coming in a week or two."
If the strike lasts longer than three to four weeks, it will be moderately detrimental to GM and Ford's EV strategy in 2024 ... While the Detroit stalwarts battle with the UAW, there's a bottle of champagne that's being iced at Tesla headquarters," he says.
I'm looking forward to joining our auto workers on the picket line this weekend. For the sake of Michigan's economy and our working families, I hope this strike is short-lived ... I hope the UAW and the Big Three continue to negotiate in good faith to reach a fair agreement as quickly as possible."
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