A sign showing support for the UAW strike stands at the intersection across from the Ford Chicago Assembly Plant on October 7, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. UAW president Shawn Fain later joined members in solidarity with the ongoing strike at Union Hall 551.
UAW decided to expand its strike to a Stellantis pickup truck plant in Michigan.
On the other hand, the American labor group avoided attacking General Dynamics, thanks to a tentative agreement they achieved.
Here are the latest details about these updates on the strikes and activities of the United Auto Workers union.
UAW Expands Strike To Stellantis
According to CNBC's latest report, UAW extended its strike and its latest target is a Stellantis plant that manufactures Ram 1500 full-size pickup trucks.
On Monday, Oct. 23, the labor organization's leadership announced that the protest against Stellantis' Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (SHAP) in suburban Detroit includes 6,800 workers.
"Currently, Stellantis has the worst proposal on the table regarding wage progression, temporary worker pay and conversion to full-time, cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), and more," said the United Auto Workers.
This latest UAW protest at Stellantis' SHAP brings the total number of union members going on strikes to over 40,000. The automaker's Michigan-based manufacturing plant is one of the most important American plants to Stellantis.
Although this is the case, Stellantis seems to be calmer and more poised when it comes to waiting out the UAW protest compared to its rivals, such as Ford Motor and General Motors.
Read Also: Ford Steps Up Effort To End UAW Strike, Exec Says Company's Future at Stake
General Dynamics Safe From UAW Strikes
A close-up view of the signs used by the United Auto Workers members to picket outside the Jeep Plant on September 18, 2023 in Toledo, Ohio. The U.A.W. walked out of three locations on Thursday night at midnight, marking the first time they've been simultaneously on strike at Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis the big three automakers.
Unlike Stellantis, General Dynamics is quite lucky since it was able to avoid a serious UAW protest. This was confirmed after the labor union reached a tentative agreement with the American defense corporation.
The agreement was achieved after a new labor contract, which covers hundreds of workers at some of the corporation's defense facilities, was announced on Monday, Oct. 23.
General Dynamics is considered to be one of the largest U.S. defense contractors that manufactures munitions, weapons systems, combat vehicles, etc.
But, even this agency is struggling with labor and supply shortages because of the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, as well as the worsening conflict in Israel caused by the Hamas militant group.
Avoiding a UAW protest is a big deal for General Dynamics since it means that all their labor forces can still continue working as the demand for warfare weapons drastically increases, as reported by Reuters.
However, the proposed agreement between the labor union and General Dynamics still needs to be ratified by UAW workers. If you want to learn more about the deal between the American defense contractor and the labor group, you can click this link.
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