
Automakers on verge of strike as UAW’s contract deadline looms
Union President Shawn Fain said the final decision on which plants to strike won’t be announced until 10 p.m. Thursday.
Union President Shawn Fain said the final decision on which plants to strike won’t be announced until 10 p.m. Thursday.
In an online address to union members, United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said General Motors, Ford and Stellantis have raised their initial wage offers, but have rejected some of the union’s other demands.
A strike of more than a couple of weeks would reduce still-tight supplies of vehicles on Detroit automakers’ dealer lots. With demand still strong, prices would rise.
The union is seeking more than 40% general pay raises over four years, restoration of pensions for newer hires, cost-of-living increases, an end to wage tiers, and other benefits.
Some 340,000 UPS employees are inching toward a strike, threatening the largest work stoppage in over half a century, that could upend a part of the broader package delivery system that Americans have come to depend on.
UPS handles roughly 28% of the 75 million packages delivered in the U.S. on a typical day, split about equally between businesses and homes.
Negotiations between the delivery company and the union representing 340,000 of its workers have been at a standstill for more than a week with a July 31 deadline for a new contract approaching fast.
A historic double strike will effectively shut down Hollywood beginning Friday, after a union representing nearly all TV and film actors failed to secure a new contract with major studios.
As the industry undergoes a historic transition from internal combustion engines to EVs, the UAW sees this year’s contract as an opportunity to ensure representation in the industry’s jobs of the future.
The Teamsters represent more than half of the company’s workforce in the largest private-sector contract in North America. If a strike occurs, it would be the first since a 15-day walkout by 185,000 workers crippled the company a quarter-century ago.
The first Hollywood strike in 15 years began Tuesday as the economic pressures of the streaming era prompted unionized TV and film writers to picket for better pay outside major studios.
Streaming has exploded the number of series and films that are annually made, meaning more jobs for writers. But WGA members say they’re making much less money and working under more strained conditions.
Legislation to avert what could have been an economically ruinous freight rail strike won final approval in Congress on Thursday as lawmakers responded quickly to President Joe Biden’s call for federal intervention in a long-running labor dispute.
The bill lawmakers are considering would impose a compromise labor agreement that was voted down by four of the 12 unions representing more than 100,000 employees at large freight rail carriers.
A coalition of more than 400 business groups sent a letter to congressional leaders Monday urging them to step into the stalled talks because of fears about the devastating potential impact of a strike.
Railroads have already started to curtail shipments of hazardous materials and refrigerated products ahead of Friday’s strike deadline.
Freight railroads and their unions face a looming strike deadline on Friday, and business groups say a stoppage halting deliveries of raw materials and finished products that so many companies rely on would be an economic disaster.
Stellantis said that operations at the plant in Kokomo would resume late Monday after UAW Local 1166 workers voted to ratify the agreement.
The 1,200-worker plant, Kokomo Casting, is the world’s largest die cast facility, according to Stellantis. It makes aluminum parts for components including transmissions and engine blocks.
The railroad trade group said a strike would idle some 7,000 freight trains a day run by CSX, Union Pacific, BNSF, Norfolk Southern, Kansas City Southern and other railroads and disrupt passenger operations nationwide.