 union has declared a strike targeting Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, in a bid to put pressure on the carmakers to grant higher pay and make other improvements in new labour agreements. It comes at a time of broader labour unrest and casts a cloud of uncertainty over an industry that accounts for 3% of the national economy. US President Joe Biden has been forced to weigh in on the dispute , which is playing out in states that have disproportionate importance in national elections. The UAW was founded in 1935 to represent workers at America's motor giants: Ford, GM and Chrysler - now part of Stellantis. It was a hugely powerful force in US politics after World War Two, at a time when those companies were the world's pre-eminent car giants and manufacturing jobs in the motor industry were seen as a path to the middle class. UAW membership peaked in 1979 at almost 1.5 million. Today, it represents more than 400,000 active workers across a wide range of sectors, including hospitals and universities, including more than 140,000 members who work at Ford, GM and Stellantis. This is the first strike in the UAW's 88-year history to target all three companies - known as the Detroit Three - at once. The action is the brainchild of Shawn Fain, a fiery former electrician in the industry who was narrowly elected this spring promising a more transparent and combative approach to contract negotiations. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, UAW president Shawn Fain declined the traditional handshake with company executives at the start of negotiations His win followed an embezzlement scandal at the union. The work stoppage currently affects just three factories, which together employ fewer than 13,000 workers. a GM assembly plant in Wentzville, Missouri that works on GMC Canyon and Chevrolet Colorado midsize pickups, as well as the GMC Savana and Chevrolet Express full-size vans a Ford site in Wayne, Michigan that wor){kind=link}
The United Auto Workers (UAW) union has declared a strike targeting Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, in a bid to put pressure on the carmakers to grant higher pay and make other improvements in new labour agreements.
It comes at a time of broader labour unrest and casts a cloud of uncertainty over an industry that accounts for 3% of the national economy.
US President Joe Biden has been forced to weigh in on the dispute, which is playing out in states that have disproportionate importance in national elections.
The UAW was founded in 1935 to represent workers at America’s motor giants: Ford, GM and Chrysler – now part of Stellantis.
It was a hugely powerful force in US politics after World War Two, at a time when those companies were the world’s pre-eminent car giants and manufacturing jobs in the motor industry were seen as a path to the middle class.