13,000 workers from Detroit's three automakers go on strike seeking better wages

UAW workers strike all three Detroit automakers; union seeks wage increases, restoration of benefits lost in 2007. Workers want to ensure union representation at joint-venture electric vehicle battery factories. Companies face unprecedented demands on capital as they develop and build new electric vehicles. Strike could cause dealers to run short of vehicles, prices to rise, and be a factor in next year's presidential election.

About 13,000 U.S. auto workers stopped making vehicles and went on strike Friday, September 15, 2023, after their leaders couldn't bridge a giant gap between union demands in contract talks and what Detroit's three automakers are willing to pay.

Members of the United Auto Workers union began picketing at a General Motors assembly plant in Wentzville, Missouri, a Ford factory in Wayne, Michigan, near Detroit, and a Stellantis Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio.

It was the first time in the union's 88-year history that it walked out on all three companies simultaneously as four-year contracts with the companies expired at 11:59 p.m. Thursday.

The strike will likely chart the future of the union and of America's homegrown auto industry at a time when U.S. labour is flexing its might and the companies face a historic transition from building internal combustion automobiles to making electric vehicles.

If the strikes last a long time, they could cause dealers to run short of vehicles and prices could rise. The walkout could even be a factor in next year's presidential election by testing Joe Biden's proud claim to be the most union-friendly president in American history.

“Workers all over the world are watching this,” said Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, a federation of 60 unions with 12.5 million members.

The strike is far different from those during previous UAW negotiations. Instead of going after one company, the union, led by its pugnacious new president, Shawn Fain, is striking at all three. But not all of the 146,000 UAW members at company plants are walking picket lines, at least not yet.