General Motors and Ford return to negotiating table as UAW strike enters second day

2h ago / 4:45 PM EDT

UAW president calls out Stellantis over idled Belvidere Assembly Plant

UAW President Shawn Fain called out Stellantis for taking back a proposed plan to reopen the idled Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois.

“Today, a Stellantis executive told the press that the company had put forward a proposal to reopen Belvidere Assembly Plant but that they are now taking it back. That’s how they see these workers. A bargaining chip,” Fain said in a statement Saturday.

An executive for the automaker said they had a solution for the plant, but the offer was contingent on the two sides reaching a deal ahead of the strike, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Fain said the plant had been profitable and supported around 5,000 employees and their families. “Now that number is zero, and Stellantis wants to keep playing games,” he said. “Their attitude is: Stellantis giveth, and Stellantis taketh away. Our attitude is: Save Belvidere.”

2h ago / 4:12 PM EDT

Stellantis offers raises, inflation protection measures to UAW as strikes continue

Stellantis said Saturday that its most recent proposal to the United Auto Workers includes raises of nearly 21% over the course of the contract, including an immediate 10% pay increase, and the end of wage tiers for some workers, the latest development in a historic showdown between the big three Detroit automakers and the union.

The Jeep maker’s proposal, which is in line with proposals from Ford and General Motors, would also continue to offer profit sharing to workers, according to new details on the offer released by the company Saturday.

“The teams have been very, very careful to listen, very careful for us to come up with best offers that we can do that also protect … the company,” COO Mark Stewart said on a Saturday call with reporters.

Read the full story on CNBC here.

3h ago / 3:35 PM EDT

Chevrolet Silverado and Tahoe, GMC Sierra and Ford F-Series pickups could be first vehicles to feel effects of strike

If the strike isn’t ended soon there could be shortages of some makes and models –big sellers or vehicles that are already in short supply, such as Chevrolet Silverado and Tahoe, GMC Sierra and Ford F-Series pickups. The car companies have plants in Mexico that could keep producing some models — as long as they have a supply of parts.

While the supply of cars from Detroit’s Big Three will largely depend on how long the strike lasts and how quickly it spreads to other plants As cars from Ford, GM and Stellantis, the successor to Fiat Chrysler, become harder to find, there will be a ripple effect. Consumers who need a vehicle would likely turn to nonunion competitors like Toyota, Honda and Tesla, who would be able to charge them more.

3h ago / 3:01 PM EDT

Stellantis to resume negotiations with UAW on Monday

Stellantis and the UAW have agreed to resume negotiations Monday, a spokesperson for the company said Saturday afternoon.

5h ago / 1:42 PM EDT

UAW said it ‘had reasonably productive conversations’ with Ford

UAW said it “had reasonably productive conversations with Ford today” after the automotive company and GM said they were back negotiating with the union.

4h ago / 1:59 PM EDT

‘Everyone deserves a livable wage’: Legislators show their support

Reps. Nikema Williams, D-Ga., Aryanna Pressely, D-Mass., and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., were among the legislators showing their support for UAW union members.

“Proud to stand with @UAW. Everyone deserves a livable wage,” Williams said in a post Saturday on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Stabenow wrote: “Michigan workers are making the best cars and trucks in the world. @UAW must have a fair share of that success.”

Pressley called out the CEOs of Ford, GM and Stellantis for getting “giant bonuses on top of their million-dollar salaries.”

“Yes, they *can* afford to give their workers wages & benefits that reflect their worth,” she tweeted Saturday. Solidarity with our @UAW siblings.”

Rep. Brendan Boyle. D-Pa., expressed a similar sentiment, writing in a statement that union members “deserve nothing less than an equitable and just agreement that recognizes their skills, hard work and professionalism.”

“I was raised in a union household,” he said. “I know first-hand how unions fight for fair wages and benefits for workers.”

6h ago / 11:48 AM EDT

Picket line in Wentzville

7h ago / 11:40 AM EDT

GM and Ford back at the table with UAW

Teams for GM and Ford started negotiations again Saturday with UAW, a spokesperson for both automakers confirmed.

6h ago / 12:08 PM EDT

UAW president lashes out over threats of nonstriking workers being laid off

UAW President Shawn Fain said threats of layoffs of nonstriking workers is the Big Three’s “latest attack” to get union members to “settle for less.”

GM threatened to lay off 2,000 workers at a plant in Fairfax, Kansas, blaming the strike in Wentzville, Missouri. The automaker said it wouldn’t be able to provide those workers with supplemental unemployment benefits because the contract with the union had expired.

Ford said it had already laid off 600 workers at a facility in Wayne, Michigan, because there was no work for them because of the strike.

Fain said the threats won’t work.

“Let’s be clear: if the Big Three decide to lay people off who aren’t on strike, that’s them trying to put the squeeze on our members to settle for less. With their record profits, they don’t have to lay off a single employee,” he said in a statement Saturday.

Fain said the companies could still make billions of dollars even if they doubled the pay of every worker and kept car prices the same.

“The UAW will make sure any worker laid off in the Big Three’s latest attack will not go without an income,” he said. “We’ll organize one day longer than they can, and go the distance to win economic and social justice at the Big Three.”