The United Auto Workers union says the two-week strike against automakers in Detroit will expand to 7,000 additional workers at a Ford plant in Chicago and a General Motors assembly plant near Lansing, Michigan.
Union President Shawn Fain told workers during a video appearance Friday that negotiations have not broken down, but that Ford and GM have refused to make meaningful progress. Jeep maker Stellantis was spared from the third round of strikes.
The GM plant in Delta Township, near Lansing, makes large crossover SUVs such as the Chevrolet Traverse. A nearby plant for stamping metal parts will remain open, Fain said.
Ford’s Chicago plant makes the Ford Explorer and Explorer police interceptors, as well as the Lincoln Aviator SUV. The Explorer interceptor is the nation’s best-selling police vehicle.
“Unfortunately, despite our willingness to negotiate, Ford and GM have refused to make meaningful progress at the table,” Fain said in explaining the two new strike locations.
The union has vowed to hit the automakers harder if it does not receive what it calls substantially improved contract offers as part of an unprecedented, simultaneous labor campaign against all three Detroit automakers.
Additional strikes will begin at noon on Friday.
Progress was reported in the talks on Thursday evening, especially with Stellantis.
The automakers’ last known wage offers were about 20% over the life of a four-year contract, just over half of what the union has demanded. Other contract improvements, such as cost-of-living increases, restoration of promised pensions for newly hired workers and an end to intra-union wage levels are also on the table.
The union went on strike on September 15 when it could not reach an agreement on new contracts with the companies. Contracts expired at 11:59 PM on September 14.
The UAW initially focused on one assembly plant from each company. Last week it added 38 parts distribution centers run by GM and Stellantis. Ford was spared the second escalation because talks with the union were progressing at the time.
The union has structured its strike so that the companies can continue making pickup trucks and large SUVs, their best-selling and most profitable vehicles. It previously closed assembly plants in Missouri, Ohio and Michigan that make midsize pickups, utility vehicles and midsize SUVs, all of which are profitable but don’t make as much money as the larger vehicles.
In the past, the union had singled out one company as a potential strike target and entered into a contract agreement with that company that would serve as an example to the others.
But this year, Fain introduced a new strategy to focus on a limited number of facilities at all three automakers, while threatening to add more if the companies don’t come up with better offers.
About 25,000 of the union’s 146,000 workers at the three automakers are on strike, allowing the union to maintain a strike fund that was worth $825 million before September 14.
If all union autoworkers were to strike, the fund would be depleted in less than three months, not to mention health care costs.
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Koenig reported from Dallas.