United Auto Workers picketed outside three factories Friday — one belonging to each of the Big Three automakers — after failing to reach a new contract for workers.
Where the UAW is striking
Walkouts target three of more than 70 auto plants
Wentzville Assembly Plant
Note: Locations are approximate. Customer service
locations are excluded.
Sources: Company websites
HANNA ZAKHARENKO/THE WASHINGTON POST
Where the UAW is striking
Walkouts target three of more than 70 auto plants
Wentzville Assembly Plant
Note: Locations are approximate. Customer service locations are
excluded.
Sources: Company websites
HANNA ZAKHARENKO/THE WASHINGTON POST
Where the UAW is striking
Walkouts target three of more than 70 auto plants
Wentzville Assembly Plant
Note: Locations are approximate. Customer service locations are excluded.
Sources: Company websites
HANNA ZAKHARENKO/THE WASHINGTON POST
The targeted strike in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio comes after negotiations for a new contract failed to produce the wage raises and expanded benefits the union demanded from Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, the parent company of brands that include Jeep and Chrysler.
About 12,700 workers are striking at the three facilities — a small portion of the total 150,000 UAW workers, though the union says the strike could expand if negotiations remain unsuccessful.
“Tonight, for the first time in our history, we will strike all three of the Big Three at once,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a Facebook Live broadcast Thursday night. “We are using a new strategy: the stand-up strike. We will call on select facilities, locals or units to stand up and go on strike.”
The three factories currently on strike make some of the automakers’ best known cars, including the Jeep Wrangler and Chevrolet Colorado.
Fain said that workers at facilities beyond the initial three factories should be ready to strike as needed. The strike, especially if it expands to encompass all 150,000 UAW workers, could destabilize the U.S. auto industry: UAW workers produce nearly half of the light vehicles manufactured in the United States, according to GlobalData.
The strike isn’t likely to send car prices skyrocketing in the short term, analysts say, especially if it stays relatively small. But the longer it continues, and the bigger it gets, the more impact it could have on the price and availability of already popular vehicles.
Jeanne Whalen contributed to this report.
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