UAW President Shawn Fain: General Motors agrees to place battery plants under national agreement
(CBS DETROIT) - United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain provided an update on the UAW's strike against the Big Three Detroit automakers Friday.
Fain said General Motors has agreed in writing to place its electric battery plants under its national master agreement.
"This week, GM did something that was unthinkable until just today," Fain said. "They agreed to put the future of this industry under our national agreement. This victory is a direct result of the power of our membership. It's your willingness to stand up when called. It's your commitment to winning what you are owed. The companies see it. The world sees it. And today, I was ready to call on one of GM's biggest and most important plants to stand up. And it was that threat that brought GM to the table."
Fain did not announce any additional plant strikes on Friday.
"We are winning. We are making progress, and we are headed in the right direction. And what has moved the needle is our willingness to action, to be flexible, to be aggressive when we have to, and to be strategic," Fain said. "We're thinking together about the core question of the labor movement. How do working-class people build the power we need to win the power we deserve?"
Layoffs continue to pile up
As the UAW strike continues, so do layoffs by the Big Three.
Early this week, Ford announced that 400 workers at its Livonia Transmission Plant and 50 workers at the Sterling Axle Plant were instructed not to show up for work on Thursday.
GM also announced layoffs at its stamping plants in Parma, Ohio, and Marion, Indiana.
A trade association recently surveyed its more than 500 members and found that over 30% of suppliers have already started laying off employees due to the strike.
"For the lower tier or smaller suppliers, their fiscal balance sheet just doesn't have the same strength that it did, perhaps in 2019, during the last strike, it's a very different time we've been through COVID, chip shortages, inflation, you name it, we've had it, and so these suppliers are in a financially very tough position," said Julie Fream, president and CEO of MEMA Original Equipment Suppliers.
How to watch Fain's announcement
For more news on the UAW strike, visit here.