Autoworkers prepare for big strike with ‘practice pickets’

The contracts between the United Auto Workers and General Motors, Ford and Stellantis (which absorbed Chrysler) expire September 14. UAW President Shawn Fain has stated that date is “a deadline not a reference point” — meaning there will be a strike at any of the three companies that do not deliver an acceptable contract by then. (uaw.org)

UAW practice picket, Brookpark, Ohio, Sept, 10, 2023. (WW Photo: Martha Grevatt)

Practice pickets have been held at or near auto plants around the country, including at the Ford engine plant in Brookpark, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland on Sept. 10. Members of UAW Local 1250 carried signs and chanted, “We are the union, mighty, mighty union!” Many wore red shirts for solidarity, and some had the slogan, “Will strike if provoked.”

The most recent contract offers from the Detroit Three have been deemed “insulting” by the UAW, as the offers fail to properly address union demands for pay increases that match the increase in CEO pay, restoration of the cost-of-living allowance, elimination of unequal pay and benefit tiers, job security, a shorter work week and more.