DETROIT — The United Auto Workers went on strike early Friday at Ford Motor Co.'s Bronco plant in Wayne, Stellantis NV's Jeep Wrangler plant in Toledo and a General Motor Co. plant in Missouri as a deadline set by the union to reach new contracts expired.
The walkouts involving 12,900 workers mark the first time in the union's more than 80-year history that it has struck all three Detroit automakers at once.
Moments after the strike started at Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant, union President Shawn Fain arrived at the UAW Local 900 hall to much fanfare. Thousands of UAW members and journalists swarmed the union leader, who answered questions before leading the crowd on a short march across Michigan Avenue to stand directly in front of Michigan Assembly Plant. "This union is making history," he said. "This is our time."
Fain said he expected to be back at the bargaining table with the automakers on Saturday. He's scheduled to appear at a rally Friday afternoon in downtown Detroit with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
When the union's contracts expired at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, the UAW launched strikes involving 12,900 workers against all three Detroit automakers for the first time in the union's more than 80-year history.
The plants struck by the union produce popular midsize trucks, off-roading SUVs and commercial vans. Workers in final assembly and paint shop only walked out at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant. It makes the Ranger midsize pickup and the Bronco off-roading SUV and employs about 4,600 hourly workers, according to Ford's website. Local 900 in Region 1A represents those members.
Outside the Toledo Assembly Complex, local political leaders and fellow autoworkers clapped and cheered, yelling "Here we go!" as the first UAW members walked and drove out of the plant along I-75 shortly after midnight.
It was bittersweet taking those steps, said Joyce Jones, 51, of Toledo, a 10-year UAW member who works in quality inspection.
"It was sad, but it'll be worth it," she said while holding a strike sign in front of a gate off Stickney Avenue. "It's shameful the CEOs are not willing to give their workers what we deserve. We have TPTs (temporary part-time or supplemental workers) who have been part-time for five or six years. They need to be rolled over."
Jacquel McNeal, 30, of Toledo is one such supplemental worker. January would mark three years for her. She is paid $17.53, and as a single mother, supports four children ages ranging 7 to 13.
"I do what I can," she said. "It's all on my way. (Recent increases on consumer items) has been a lot."
As vehicles honked while passing the picketers and even blasted music, autoworkers hooted and jumped up and down.
The energy was exciting, McNeal said, adding: "I want better."
GM and Stellantis expressed disappointment in the UAW's decision to launch the strikes in statements early Friday.
“The UAW has informed GM that they are on strike at Wentzville Assembly in Missouri as of 11:59 PM," spokesperson David Barnas said. "We are disappointed by the UAW leadership's actions, despite the unprecedented economic package GM put on the table, including historic wage increases and manufacturing commitments. We will continue to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible for the benefit of our team members, customers, suppliers and communities across the U.S. In the meantime, our priority is the safety of our workforce.”
"We are extremely disappointed by the UAW leadership's refusal to engage in a responsible manner to reach a fair agreement in the best interest of our employees, their families and our customers," Stellantis spokesperson Jodi Tinson said. "We immediately put the Company in contingency mode and will take all the appropriate structural decisions to protect our North American operations and the Company."
In a statement from Ford spokesperson Jessica Enoch just after 10 p.m. Thursday, the company confirmed it had received "its first substantive counterproposal" from the UAW around 8 p.m. The company said that the counter offer "showed little movement from the union's initial demands submitted Aug. 3."
"If implemented, the proposal would more than double Ford’s current UAW-related labor costs, which are already significantly higher than the labor costs of Tesla, Toyota and other foreign-owned automakers in the United States that utilize non-union-represented labor," the statement said. "Ford has bargained in good faith in an effort to avoid a strike, which could have wide-ranging consequences for our business and the economy."
Sandy K. Baruah, president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber, expressed concern about the effect of the union's action in a statement early Friday: "The strike by the UAW not only impacts Michigan’s signature industry, it disproportionately impacts Michigan residents, especially those in the middle class. Every OEM auto job impacts between seven to 10 other jobs, which are all at risk as the strike shuts down the industry."
Michigan political leaders also weighed in, with Democratic lawmakers expressing support for the UAW's action in pursuit of its bargaining goals. U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell and Rashida Tlaib joined picketing workers outside the Ford plant in Wayne early Friday.
“I stand in solidarity with UAW workers as they strike to fight for a contract that gives them the wages, job security, and benefits they deserve," U.S. Sen. Gary Peters said in a statement. "UAW members made huge sacrifices to help save the auto industry in 2008 and now that the Big Three are making historic profits, the workers deserve to get their fair share of the success."
In Wayne, workers exited Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant en masse Thursday night just ahead of the deadline. Michigan Avenue in front of the final assembly plant was a cacophony of drivers honking in support and picketers playing music, cheering and chanting their demands.
End tiers. Justice for retirees. COLA. Those were some of the demands highlighted in interviews and on signs as workers gathered to launch a historic strike.
The picket line was a family affair for some.
Adelisa Lebron of Detroit, a Local 900 worker who works at Michigan Assembly on the engine line, was there with her teenage daughter, sister-in-law and mother. Lebron said that even after three years working there, she does not earn enough to support her family.
Being a single mom with three kids with what I’m making right now, it’s not cutting it," she said.
Her mother, Marilyn Lebron, works at Ford's Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn. She's worked at Ford for 21 years, and said she wants the same conditions she once enjoyed for her children and grandchildren.
"She’s a single mom. She’s raising 3 children. She should be at full pay," she said of her daughter. “We had COLA. We had everything. And I want her and my grandchildren to have those things."
Another family member, Alexandria Cosme-Reyna, works at REVC and says she struggles to support her six children on her wages: “I live paycheck to paycheck.”
The other two plants affected by the strike produce popular, profitable products too.
Stellantis’ Toledo Assembly Complex is home to its flagship Jeep Wrangler and its Gladiator midsize pickup brother — whose ’24 refreshed model was revealed at the Detroit auto show on Wednesday. Toledo employs 4,174 hourly workers, according to Stellantis’ website. Local 12 in Region 2B represents those employees.
GM's Wentzville Assembly outside of St. Louis produces the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize trucks and the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans. It employs 4,114 hourly and salaried workers, according to GM's website. Local 2250 in Region 4 represents those workers.
The action is the union's first simultaneous strike against all three car makers, union officials and industry analysts say. Although negotiations had ramped up in the past couple of weeks as the companies responded to the UAW's economic demands initially made the week of July 30, a breakthrough still hasn't been reached.
The UAW is employing what it calls a "stand-up strike" strategy. It entails identifying a single plant at each company initially with the threat of adding more as needed. That's compared to a national strike in which all approximately 146,000 UAW members at the Detroit Three would walk out.
"This strategy will keep the companies guessing," Fain said. "It will give our national negotiators maximum leverage and flexibility in bargaining, and if we need to go all out, we will. Everything is on the table."
UAW members not employed at the plants currently being targeted in the strike will continue working, but with an expired contract. That means wages and benefits should remain the same for those workers, but there's less security from the union, according to a information sheet shared by the UAW. It won't have the ability to arbitrate matters, though a grievance process still would be available. The employer also could lock out employees.
Fain has said after years of profits at the automakers, now is the time to demand what the union suspended and sacrificed to help the companies survive the Great Recession and GM and Chrysler LLC's bankruptcies. The union has requested double-digit wage increases as much as 46%, pensions and retiree health-care for all workers, the elimination of tiers, cost-of-living adjustments and 32-hour work weeks paid as 40 hours.
It's a different time in the industry than it was in the 2000s, though. Automakers are having to invest billions of dollars in the transition to electrified vehicles. Meanwhile, non-unionized EV makers like Tesla Inc. are estimated to undercut the labor costs of the Detroit Three by as much as $20 per hour per worker. The companies have emphasized the need to stay competitive.
As of Thursday afternoon, GM and Ford were offering a 20% wage increase over four and a half years. All three had proposed a four-year progression for full-time workers to the top wage and a starting wage of $20 per hour for temporary/supplemental employees.
GM CEO Mary Barra in a letter to employees on Thursday characterized the automaker's latest offer as "historic." Ford CEO Jim Farley on Wednesday night called the Blue Oval's proposal "historically generous."
The targeted approach to a work stoppage could alleviate stress on the union's Strike and Defense Fund that sits at more than $825 million. Strike pay for UAW members is $500 per week. It also puts less pressure on the automakers — and the economy. A report for East Lansing-based consulting company Anderson Economic Group, which has done work for GM and Ford, estimates the cost of a national strike against all three companies for 10 days would have affected the U.S. economy by $5.6 billion.
Hitting the plants it has chosen, though, would disrupt production of some of the automakers' most iconic and profitable vehicles. Jeep this summer launched a refreshed Wrangler, whose 4xe version is the top-selling plug-in hybrid in the country. A work stoppage could put a halt to the strong results seen for the SUV since getting a refresh this summer after the brand posted a 15% sales decrease in the first half of the year in the United States.
"The new Wrangler refresh is doing great in the marketplace," Jim Morrison, head of Jeep in North America, said leading up to the reveal of the refreshed Gladiator. "We are seeing that growth that you'd expect."
Having more inventory, then, would be an advantage, and Stellantis' inventories are "bloated," Michelle Krebs, senior analyst for auto information resource Cox Automotive Inc., said in an analysis earlier this month. Jeep had 95 days of supply at the end of August, above the 58-day industry average.
Ford has made the revived Bronco a challenger to Wrangler's domination of the four-wheeling SUV market. Bronco's U.S. sales were up 8.3% in 2023 through August. Ranger sales were down 27%. Ford had 77 days of supply at the end of August, according to Cox.
Meanwhile, U.S. sales of the Canyon were down 14% and of the Colorado down almost 25% in the first half of the year. Savana sales rose 23%, while Express sales fell 17%.
