On Friday, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union reached a key agreement with General Motors that will allow workers at GM-owned battery factories to join the union.
The landmark concession also prompted the UAW to avoid escalating the strike again on Friday, involving more auto plants in the lockout. After General Motors, this agreement will also bring huge pressure for Ford and Stellantis to compromise, becoming an important constraint for the three manufacturers to deal with labor relations in the future.
UAW President Shawn Fain said on Friday that GM has agreed to lay the groundwork for fair excess in the era of electric vehicles.
Predictably, this agreement can overcome most of the anxiety of Detroit auto manufacturing workers in the wave of electric vehicle transition under the unemployment, although the details are still under negotiation, and battery factory workers' wages and benefits may not be the same as that of auto workers, but the automakers have ceded extremely important negotiating power.
Decline in competitiveness
The transformation of electric vehicles has been the main theme of the U.S. auto industry, which also means that the original competitive pattern of fuel vehicles has been broken, and many emerging electric vehicle brands are threatening traditional automakers.
The UAW strike reflects a pain point for traditional automakers, whose labor costs are more constrained than those of non-union electric car makers, which has become a key factor in the potential loss of competitiveness for traditional automakers.
By including battery manufacturing in the UAW's main agreement, GM has undoubtedly sacrificed some of its future competitiveness. In addition, the UAW is demanding higher pay and retirement benefits from Detroit's Big Three automakers.
On Friday, Fain said Ford's latest offer included a 23 percent pay raise, higher than the 20 percent offered by GM and Stellantis. Fain has said he wants workers to get a raise of at least 30 percent after the strike ends, and people familiar with the matter said Ford's offer is likely to meet that threshold, including a cost-of-living allowance for inflation.
Statements of all parties
About 25,000 union workers have walked off the job from five assembly plants and 38 parts distribution plants since the strike began on Sept. 15. Currently, those plants, which account for only one-sixth of UAW members, remain idle.
In the face of GM's concessions, Ford said on Friday it was open to the possibility of building a battery plant with the UAW, but those investments cost billions of dollars and must operate at a sustainable level of competition.
Mark Stewart, chief operating officer of Stellantis North America, said that while there was still some work to be done in negotiations, he was confident a preliminary agreement could be reached.
Fain continued to boost morale on Friday, saying GM's compromise meant the automaker's plans to cut engine and transmission plants and permanently replace them with low-wage battery jobs would not come to pass and that the union had a different plan and was succeeding.