The UAW strike could cost the industry billions, according to the UAW Report Thursday’s release underscored the enormous stakes involved in an upcoming union vote on whether to authorize a strike.
The Anderson Economic Group, a consultancy, estimates that a UAW strike of just 10 days could cost the industry $5.5 billion. The estimate takes a holistic view, taking into account the loss of workers and manufacturers, as well as the knock-on effects the strike could have on auto dealers and parts suppliers.
The UAW represents about 146,000 workers at the so-called Big Three U.S. automakers: General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, which will be formed in 2021 from the merger of Fiat Chrysler and PSA Group. The union branch plans to vote on whether to authorize the strike next week. Meanwhile, the current collective bargaining agreement expires on Sept. 14, and the UAW has said it will not extend the current agreement.
According to AEG’s calculations, the strike will cost wages $859 million and manufacturers $989 million, meaning unions and automakers will lose $1.8 billion directly from the strike. AEG then roughly doubled that figure to calculate what it believed the true value of the companies’ losses brought the total estimated loss to $3.5 billion. The analysis also included an additional $2.1 billion in losses from suppliers and auto dealers due to work stoppages.
“Consumer and dealer losses are generally unaffected even by short-lived strikes,” AEG vice president Tyler Theile said in a statement. One-third, so dealers and customers could have been affected “much sooner” by the UAW’s last strike, Theile said.
The 2019 strike lasted about six weeks and only occurred at GM plants, not all of the Big Three plants.Strike, albeit limited to GM cost Workers lost $1 billion in wages and GM lost $2 billion in production. If the strike were also limited to one automaker, it would result in total damages of about $1.4 billion, AEG said. This is only a 10-day strike, which means costs could skyrocket even more beyond that.
The UAW and the Big Three still have work to do
This time the union and the Big Three are still far from reaching agreement on key issues. trade union demands Includes a 40% pay rise, guaranteed pensions for new hires, cost of living increases and a requirement to hire all casual workers as a full-time employee. UAW President Shawn Fain said that as long as workers are ready to strike, they could stand to gain a lot from the upcoming negotiations.
However, Fain’s outspokenness and optimism about contract negotiations has been called into question, especially from Stellantis, which has 43,000 unionized employees. The company’s chief operating officer, Mark Stewart, claimed the union’s demands could lead to layoffs.In a letter to staff, it was first reported that ReutersStewart accused union president Fein of being “dramatic and personally insulting” for throwing Stellantis’ contract offer in the trash during a Facebook Live broadcast.
The disagreement with the UAW isn’t the only labor-related issue Stellantis has faced this year. In April, the company offered buyouts to factory and business workers to cut headcount.
Stellantis declined to comment on the AEG report, but said negotiations with the UAW negotiating committee were “constructive and collaborative.” Ford, GM, the UAW and AEG did not respond to requests for comment.
General Motors, the largest of the Big Three, also criticized the union’s demands. The company said the union’s proposal would limit its ability to adapt to future market conditions.
Meanwhile, Ford has reportedly begun grooming salaried corporate employees for factory jobs. detroit free press. The company has asked engineers and other white-collar workers to fill out parts orders and drive forklifts, among other duties.
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