Associated Press: “Now, roughly 13,000 of 146,000 workers at the three companies are on strike, making life complicated for automakers’ operations, while limiting the drain on the union’s $825 million strike fund.”
“If the contract negotiations drag on — and the strikes expand to affect more plants — the costs will grow for workers and the companies. Auto dealers could run short of vehicles, raising prices and pushing customers to buy from foreign automakers with nonunionized workers. It could also put fresh stress on an economy that’s been benefiting from easing inflation.”
Playbook: “While union workers seek general wage increases, cost-of-living pay raises, and more sick days, the walkout also comes as the domestic auto industry makes a historic shift from producing internal combustion cars to electric ones, which could mean an uncertain future for autoworkers. The UAW has been decidedly chilly on Biden’s push to effectuate that transition.”
