The U.S. automotive industry strike escalates: General Motors and Stellantis expand scope, Ford temporarily spared.

The strike in the US automotive industry, which has already swept through three major car companies and involved tens of thousands of workers, is intensifying. On Friday, September 22, Eastern Time, Shawn Fain, the president of the United Auto Workers (UAW), announced that the strike would expand to include General Motors and Stellantis, targeting their component factories in the United States, but not Ford. The new strike will begin at 12:00 noon Eastern Time and will be spread across twenty states in the country. This means that due to the lack of progress in negotiations with the union, General Motors and Stellantis will face strikes in 38 more factories, while Ford has managed to avoid an escalation of the strike, which is limited to one factory in Wayne, Michigan. The UAW stated that progress has been made in negotiations with Ford regarding key demands such as wage levels and job security provisions. Ford has not yet resolved the issue of labor compensation, but the company has shown a serious attitude towards negotiating an agreement. General Motors and Stellantis need to "seriously advance" the negotiations. Fain said that the expansion of the strike "will also extend our fight nationwide. From California to Massachusetts, from Oregon to Florida, we will be everywhere." People across the country will know that the United Auto Workers is ready to defend our communities and ready to oppose corporate greed. Subsequently, it was reported that US President Biden will once again support the UAW strike. He will meet with UAW workers in Michigan on Tuesday, September 26, and has accepted Fain's invitation to visit Michigan. When the UAW decided to launch the strike last Friday, Biden chose to stand with the automotive workers. At that time, Biden stated that Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, the three major automakers, were making record profits but "failed to fairly share them with the workers." So far, the three car companies have not been able to propose a wage plan that satisfies the union, although they claim to have made generous offers. Currently, the UAW is demanding substantial improvements to the new labor contract, including a 40% wage increase. The UAW stated that the union made significant concessions in 2007, at the beginning of the global financial crisis. Last Sunday, Stellantis proposed a 21% wage increase for workers, which was rejected by the UAW. Fain said at the time that it was "completely impossible" to convince the union to end the strike with such a meager 21% raise. According to comments, this strike is one of the actions taken by the UAW to protect the interests of workers during the transition of the automotive industry to clean energy. The strike is truly against "harvesting new technology" because the transition to electric vehicles may eliminate many jobs and significantly alter or relocate other positions. It is estimated that the electrification transition could result in the loss of 35,000 automotive jobs. Last Sunday, UAW President Fain emphasized the need for a fair transition to electric vehicles when rejecting a 21% pay increase proposal. If the US government is going to use taxpayers' money to support the policy, American workers cannot be left behind. However, successful new players in the electric vehicle field, such as Tesla, have not formed unions. Regardless of the outcome of the strike, Tesla CEO Musk has already won. The "Big Three" will definitely spend more money, and any pay increase will further enhance Tesla's significant cost advantage in the electric vehicle industry. However, some experts believe that the strike will also affect Tesla. The ability of UAW to obtain higher wages may put pressure on Tesla during the process of unionizing. Before the escalation of the strike, a total of about 13,000 employees from the three automakers participated in the strike in the Midwest region of the United States. Due to the impact of the strike, the three automotive giants had previously laid off about 3,000 people. Last Friday, UAW launched a strike against the "Big Three" in Detroit. This is the first time in UAW history that a strike has simultaneously targeted the three major automakers, and it is also one of the strongest strikes in the United States in recent years. The three factories participating in the strike account for 9% of North American automobile production. On the same day, Ford Motor Company announced that due to disruptions in the production chain caused by the strike, one of its assembly plants temporarily laid off about 600 employees. On Wednesday, General Motors announced that due to a "critical shortage of stamping parts" caused by the strike, one of its assembly plants in Kansas temporarily laid off about 2,000 employees. Stellantis also stated on the same day that due to "inventory constraints" related to the strike, about 370 employees from three component factories in Ohio and Indiana will be immediately laid off.