The United Auto Workers union on Friday said members voted overwhelmingly in favor of authorizing a strike at the Detroit Three automakers if agreement is not reached before the current four-year contract expires on Sept. 14.
The authorization was approved by 97% of voting members at General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, said UAW President Shawn Fain, who leads the union that represents about 150,000 workers.
Fain reiterated that the union did not plan to extend the deadline to get a new labor contract. “The deadline is Sept. 14. We have a lot of options that we are looking at but extension on the contract is not one of them.”
Fain said workers had made numerous concessions over the last two decades including giving up wage hikes, defined benefit pensions and post-retirement health care benefits.
“We’re fed up,” Fain said on Friday, listing a series of demands. “We’ve sat back for decades while these companies continue to just take and take and take from us.”
Fain has outlined an ambitious set of demands, including an end to the tiered wage system that pays new hires less than veterans, reinstating cost-of-living adjustments and restoring defined-benefit pension plans that the automakers ended years ago for new hires.
Fain said he expected the Detroit Three to come to the bargaining table next week with counter proposals to the UAW demands. He said talks were “still going slow” after opening in July. Analysts estimate a more than 50% chance of a strike.
The vote does not guarantee a strike will be called, only that the union has the right to call a strike if there’s no agreement by Sept. 14.
GM, Ford and Stellantis have said they want to reach a deal that is fair to workers but also gives the companies flexibility, as the industry shifts to electric models that have fewer parts and require less labor.
Ford shares were up 1%, while General Motors were unchanged in afternoon trade.
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