UAW strike: Union accuses automakers of ‘trying to put the squeeze’ with reported layoffs

The United Auto Workers union denounced reports of the Ford Motor Company and General Motors planning to lay off some non-union workers temporarily as the UAW strikes against the Big Three Detroit automakers.

After the union opted for a targeted strike against Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, beginning on Friday, Ford announced it would temporarily lay off roughly 600 nonstriking employees at its Michigan Assembly Plant, and reports suggest GM may opt for a similar plan at its assembly plant in Fairfax, Kansas. UAW President Shawn Fain said the layoffs are part of a plan to get the union to “settle for less.”

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“Let’s be clear: if the Big Three decide to lay people off who aren’t on strike, that’s them trying to put the squeeze on our members to settle for less. With their record profits, they don’t have to lay off a single employee. In fact, they could double every autoworker’s pay, not raise car prices, and still rake in billions of dollars,” Fain said in a statement on Saturday.

“Their plan won’t work. The UAW will make sure any worker laid off in the Big Three’s latest attack will not go without an income. We’ll organize one day longer than they can, and go the distance to win economic and social justice at the Big Three,” Fain continued.

A report from Reuters on Friday suggested General Motors says it expects to idle operations at its assembly plant in Fairfax, Kansas, due to the strike at its Wentzville, Missouri, plant. A Ford spokesperson said on Friday that the approximately 600 affected employees were told not to report to work on Friday because of the interconnected nature of the assembly line at the company’s Michigan Assembly Plant.

“Our production system is highly interconnected, which means the UAW’s targeted strike strategy will have knock-on effects for facilities that are not directly targeted for a work stoppage. In this case, the strike at Michigan Assembly Plant’s final assembly and paint departments has directly impacted the operations in other parts of the facility,” Ford spokeswoman Jessica Enoch said in a statement to the Washington Examiner on Friday.

“Approximately 600 employees at Michigan Assembly Plant’s body construction department and south sub-assembly area of integrated stamping were notified not to report to work Sept. 15. This is not a lockout. This layoff is a consequence of the strike at Michigan Assembly Plant’s final assembly and paint departments, because the components built by these 600 employees use materials that must be e-coated for protection. E-coating is completed in the paint department, which is on strike,“ the statement continued.

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The historic strike began at midnight early Friday morning after negotiations between the UAW and the Big Three Detroit automakers stalled. The union is seeking several changes to workers’ contracts, including a 36% pay bump over the next four years.

President Joe Biden, a self-proclaimed pro-union president, attempted to strike a balance when discussing the strike on Friday, saying he believes the “record profits” from Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis “have not been shared fairly, in my view, with those workers.”