INDIANA – As of noon today, there will be more than 25,000 UAW workers on strike, as UAW President Shawn Fain has called on an additional 7,000 members across Ford and GM to join the 18,000 workers already on the picket line.
Fain made the announcement this morning.
Here are the two plants Fain said UAW will add to its strike:
- Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant has 4,600 members who produce Ford Explorers and Lincoln Aviators.
- GM’s Lansing Michigan Delta Assembly has 2,300 members who produce the Chevy Traverse and Buick Enclave.
Fain said there would not be an expansion of the strike against Stellantis, citing progress in contract negotiations.
“We are ready to stand up and fight when called upon,” said Local UAW Local 440 President Derek Cronin.
“Right now this fight is about not getting the dignity and respect we deserve,” added Cronin. “For the long hours and work we put in. We work seven days a week 12 hours a day. That work needs to be dignified. This is about the working class the ones that work for a living.
There are 550 union members of the Bedford GM Powertrain plant and approximately 703 employees in total. The Bedford plant is served by two unions the United Auto Workers which represent the production workers and the International Brother Electrical Workers which represent the skill trades.
Union representatives are asking the three Detroit-based companies for a 46% wage increase, cost of living raises, a 32-hour workweek for 40 hours of pay, the end of “tiered wages,” or a system where some workers receive automatically lower pay if they start after a certain date, and a return to pensions. Stellantis, Ford, and made a combined $20 billion in profits and UAW members argue that “record profits should mean record wages.”
The Indiana Democratic Party released the following statement from Chair Mike Schmuhl in solidarity with the UAW and autoworkers as their strike expands today:
“Indiana Democrats stand in solidarity with the United Auto Workers as their strike expands today, including the Hoosiers now on strike who work across state lines at the Chicago Ford assembly plant.
“Autoworkers are fighting for their fair share of the hundreds of billions in profit the Big Three have made in the past decade. They are standing up for what they deserve, demanding security and dignity for their communities and families. It’s time for the automakers to pay the workers instead of Wall Street and their corporate executives.
“The UAW is showing what can be accomplished when workers come together. The labor movement built Indiana and is woven into our heritage. Our state is stronger when more Hoosiers have the ability to join a union.”
The strike began two weeks ago with three plants for Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis in Ohio, Michigan, and Missouri.
