Pak Sahafat – After 12 days of the historic strike of thousands of workers of this union in protest of their low salaries, the American Automobile Workers Union has announced its intention to expand the dimensions of this strike.
According to the report of Pak Sahafat International News Agency, a source familiar with the talks between representatives of the American Automobile Industry Workers’ Union and the officials of this industry said, this union plans to extend the strike to more factories of the three largest American automobile companies if no serious progress is made in the negotiations on working conditions.
According to Reuters, Shawn Finn, president of the American Auto Workers Union, announced new areas for strike action in an internet speech EST, and workers at these facilities will stop work at noon on the same day, the source said.
The UAU is expected to continue its current strike until a new contract is approved, the source said.
On September 15, nearly 12,700 workers who are members of the American Automobile Workers’ Union, for the first time in the country’s history, staged a coordinated strike in three major automobile manufacturing plants to protest their working conditions and low salaries. This strike was carried out simultaneously by the workers of the factories of famous automobile companies “General Motors”, “Ford” and “Stelantis”. The union had previously decided to expand the strikes in more factories of General Motors and Stlantis once on September 22, but it is not clear whether the second phase of the strike expansion will target more factories of Ford.
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According to Reuters, there is still a big difference between the officials of the American car companies and the representatives of the workers’ union of this industry in the negotiations over salaries, pension benefits and vacations. Finn insists on a 40 percent pay rise for these workers over four years, but American automakers have offered a 20 percent raise.
Prolonged strikes in factories producing large vans can cause multi-billion losses to the benefits and income of automakers.
American car manufacturers, like their counterparts in the world, have focused on reducing their costs, including with policies such as power cuts, to accelerate the process of moving away from gasoline cars and focusing on electric cars.
The American Auto Workers Union represents 46,000 workers at General Motors, 57,000 at Ford and 43,000 at Stlantis. This union had started its negotiations on working conditions with these companies in July.
US President Joe Biden visited striking workers in Michigan on Tuesday and supported their demand for a 40% pay raise.
“Donald Trump”, the former president and the current front-runner in the US Republican primary race, also addressed a group of non-union auto workers in Michigan on Wednesday.