UAW pauses strike expansion on GM progress

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union has refrained from expanding its nearly three-week strike, citing recent progress in talks with General Motors (GM) and continuing progress with Ford and Stellantis.

UAW president Shawn Fain had said the union was ready to strike GM's Arlington, Texas full-size SUV plant, which makes the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban and GMC and Cadillac variants. Full-size SUVs are key money makers for US auto companies, and represented 71,519 vehicles sold in the third quarter, or 11pc of GM's total volumes.

Right before a Friday afternoon Facebook Live event, GM presented the UAW with a major concession on future battery plants.

"Just that threat (to strike the Arlington plant) has provided a transformative win. GM has now agreed, in writing, to place their electric battery manufacturing under our master agreement," Fain said.

Organizing at the Big 3's future battery plants has been a sticking point at the automakers, with Ford claiming on 2 October that "the workforce for these operations has not been hired" but that the company "remains open to the possibility of working with the UAW" as the plants are built.

Fain added that Ford is now offering wage increases of 23pc, higher than GM and Stellantis, which he said are offering around 20pc.

The union has been pushing for 40pc increases over the life of the contract.

Currently five assembly plants across the three companies are being struck, with a sixth idled from lack of parts. Across GM and Stellantis, 36 parts distribution centers are also being struck.

By Rye Druzin