UAW strike: More Ford, GM workers joining in third week

The UAW on Friday said it's expanding its strike against the Detroit 3, now entering its third week, to two more assembly plants.

UAW President Shawn Fain said a General Motors plant outside Lansing, Mich., and Ford Motor Co.'s Chicago Assembly Plant joined the strike Friday at noon Eastern time. They employ about 7,000 people building the Chevrolet Traverse, Buick Enclave, Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator.

Fain spared Stellantis after the company made "significant progress" moments before the broadcast, on a number of items, including topics related to cost-of-living adjustments, right to strike over plant closures and outsourcing moratoriums.

The escalation brings the total number of workers on strike against the Detroit 3 to about 25,000, or 17 percent of the UAW's membership at the automakers.

"Our courageous members at these two plants are the next wave of reinforcements in our fight for record contracts," Fain said on a Facebook broadcast Friday morning. "Our strategy is working."

GM, in a statement, said it had still not received a counteroffer from the UAW since its latest proposal was made more than a week ago.

“Calling more strikes is just for the headlines, not real progress,” Gerald Johnson, Executive Vice President, Global Manufacturing, said in a statement. “The number of people negatively impacted by these strikes is growing and includes our customers who buy and love the products we build.”

It's the first time the union has escalated the strike against Ford since it began Sept. 15. The shutdown of Explorer and Aviator production, two profitable models, could be especially painful, as Ford had only recently restarted production there after a stop-sale due to a recall had idled the plant for months.

Talks with all three companies were active over the past week, according to people familiar with the negotiations, although it's unclear how much, if any, progress was achieved at the table. The UAW made its first new counterproposal of the week to Stellantis on Thursday, only 24 hours before the latest deadline and roughly a week after the automaker said it had presented its sixth offer.

Earlier in the week, Ford said it had halted work on a $3.5 billion battery plant in Marshall, Mich., which angered Fain. He accused the company of engaging in "a shameful, barely veiled threat" to cut jobs.

Ford executives, including CEO Jim Farley, were expected to address the status of contract talks Friday afternoon.

The strike started with three large assembly plants in Michigan, Ohio and Missouri — one at each automaker — moments after the UAW's contracts with the companies expired. Fain expanded the work stoppage Sept. 22 to 38 GM and Stellantis parts distribution facilities across 20 states.

“We knew going into this fight the road ahead would be difficult and we knew it was unlikely this would be quick,” Fain said Friday.