The UAW Strike Situation
The United Automobile Workers Union, or UAW, focused on a Sterling Heights, Michigan assembly plant. The company that runs this plant is called Stellantis and they have a history of treating their workers terribly. Which is why the UAW is striking the plant. This assembly plant is one of the biggest facilities that focuses on vehicles.
The facility makes different vehicles for other large companies such as Dodge Jeep and even Ram. The United Automobile Workers Union stated that the company has had little to no negotiation when it comes to pay, making provisional workers into full-time workers, and the cost of living changes.
Additionally, the Union said, “Even though this company has the most earnings and most cash in their reserves they do not tell the big companies like Ford or General Motors about the requests of their crew.” As a response to UAW, Stellantis stated, “It is an outrage that the union will go out and choose to start striking against us and have us shut down.”
Surprised by the Union’s choice, the company was it has started to make progress and began negotiations with them. But that progress was soon left alone. “After a few talks with the union, which was leading to a halfway point, we decided to leave the table because we are waiting for a counter-proposal from UAW. And the longer they take the more consequences that will occur and not just for us but for everyone,” Stellantis stated.
About the Stellantis in Michigan
For the Sterling Heights assembly plant, the Ram pickup trucks have become the best seller. There were about 332,000 of these trucks sold in the U.S. in the last nine months. The Sterling Heights plant has topped all the other Stellantis assembly plants like the one in Mexico or Warren.
The moneymaking plant makes 300,000 pick-up trucks a year, which is about 1,000 a day for six days a week. Each of the Ram 1500 trucks costs about $64,235. Meaning, with 300,000 of these being produced annually, the revenue would be nearly $20 billion. But the company wouldn’t confirm nor deny these numbers.
Additionally, Colin Langan, a Wells Fargo analyst, said the shutdown of the factory will cut a deep wound in its revenue. Or more specifically the shutdown will cost about $110 million a week. This isn’t the first time that a site has been shut down due to a strike by the UAW. In fact, the shutdown of the factory in Michigan marks the second time this has happened. The first time this occurred was on October 11 when the UAW went for another large assembly plant in Louisville named the Kentucky Truck Plant which also made Ford vehicles and produced a whopping $25 billion a year. However, their shutdown cost $150 million every seven days.
The Expansion of the Union
The UAW is ever expanding, having new members daily, with no specific number tied with the amount. But what is confirmed is that there are roughly 40,000 associates who are on strike all in different locations. There are 15,000 members at Stellantis and around 17,000 at Ford’s door. Currently, it is the sixth week of the strike.
But all the strikes were not in vain, as Stellantis increased its wages by 23 percent and made a 50 percent increase in the company’s contribution to the retirement accounts of their workers who were hired all the way back in 2007.
By Samuel Cruz
Sources:
CNN: UAW union just ordered 6,800 workers to strike a massive Ram truck facility
NPR: UAW expands its auto strike once again, hitting a key plant for Ram pickup trucks
NBC News: UAW strike expands again as union says it shut down Ram truck plant
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of crash71100 Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Colin Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
