As of today, Saturday September 30th, more than 25,000 auto workers have initiated a strike against major automakers General Motors (GM), Ford, and Stellantis due to concerns about President Joe Biden’s Electric Vehicle (EV) mandates potentially leading to job losses and wage cuts. United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain announced that approximately 7,000 auto workers at GM’s Lansing Delta Township Assembly in Lansing, Michigan, and Ford’s Chicago Assembly in Chicago, Illinois, have joined the strike against these industry giants. The UAW strike now spans 43 plants across 21 states, although negotiations with Stellantis are showing progress. Negotations with Ford, though, lost their initial momentum.
Fain expressed confidence in their strategy, highlighting that the Big Three automakers have collectively raked in record profits of a quarter of a trillion dollars in North America over the past decade and $21 billion in profits in the last six months. Stalling the negotiations is the automakers’ commitment to complying with Biden’s EV mandates, which involve substantial taxpayer-funded subsidies for EV production over traditional gas-powered vehicles. Auto workers are apprehensive that this transition might lead to job elimination and increased reliance on China, which dominates key materials like lithium, manganese, cobalt, graphite, and nickel, raising concerns about supply chain dependence.
