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UAW’s New President Sounds Tough Note Ahead of Labor Talks

Bill Koenig
By Bill Koenig Senior Editor, SME Media

The new president of the United Auto Workers union today said the union is prepared for tough labor talks with General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis NV.

“Everything is on the table,” Shawn Fain said during an Automotive Press Association presentation. “We’re going to take a different approach on everything. The status quo was not working for us.”

Fain criticized how the companies have closed plants while earning profits. Stellantis shut down a Jeep plant in Belvidere, Illinois, earlier this year, laying off about 1,200 workers. Ford in late 2022 closed an engine plant in Romeo, Mich.

The automakers are also announcing new electric vehicle and battery investments. Battery projects are joint ventures that aren’t guaranteed to have UAW representation.

For example, Stellantis and Samsung have announced a $2.5 billion battery plant in Kokomo, Ind. Fain said the union wasn’t informed until the day before the project was announced.

“There’s been over a decade of high profits,” Fain said. “Look at the number of plants closed in the best of times.”

Fain, elected in March as head of the union, said the UAW will be more aggressive with the automakers about joint venture battery plants.

“This is our future. We’re already behind,” the union president said. “I expect change in the immediate time frame.”

The union also is looking to end two-tier wages where newer production workers are paid less than more experienced ones.

The UAW’s contracts with the three automakers expire Sept. 14. Fain didn’t answer a question about whether the union could reach new contracts without at least one strike.

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