UAW EXPANDS STAND UP STRIKE AGAINST GENERAL MOTORS AND FORD AT NOON EASTERN

DETROIT – UAW President Shawn Fain just announced on Facebook Live that the union will expand its Stand Up Strike against General Motors and Ford at GM’s Lansing Delta Township Assembly and Ford’s Chicago Assembly. An additional 7,000 UAW members at these two plants will join the strike at Noon Eastern Time. This brings the total number of Big Three strikers to 25,000 members at 43 facilities in 21 states.

There was no additional strike action announced at Stellantis, due to considerable progress in bargaining moments before the broadcast.

Following is an excerpt from Fain’s prepared remarks describing the status of negotiations. You can view the remarks as delivered at the UAW’s Facebook and YouTube channels:

“Over the last week, the vice presidents, your national negotiators, and my office have been working night and day to bargain a record contract that reflects the record profits we have produced for the Big Three.

Sadly, despite our willingness to bargain, Ford and GM have refused to make meaningful progress at the table.

That is why at noon Eastern today, we will expand our strike to these two companies.

To be clear, negotiations have not broken down.

We are still talking with all three companies.

I am still very hopeful that we can reach a deal that reflects the incredible sacrifices and contributions our members have made over the last decade.

But I also know that what we win at the bargaining table depends on the power we build on the job.

It’s time to use that power.

That is why I’m calling on an additional 7,000 members across Ford and GM to go on strike starting at noon Eastern today.

I am calling on Ford’s Chicago Assembly plant to Stand Up and go on strike.

And I’m calling GM’s Lansing Delta Township to Stand Up and go out on strike.

Let me be clear and this is important: Lansing Regional Stamping WILL CONTINUE WORKING.

Our courageous members at these two plants are the next wave of reinforcements in our fight for record contracts.

We are NOT calling on any additional members at Stellantis to go on strike.

Moments before this broadcast, Stellantis made significant progress on the 2009 COLA, the right to not cross a picket line, as well as the right to strike over product commitments, plant closures, and outsourcing moratoriums.

We are excited about this momentum at Stellantis and hope it continues.

Until then, we will keep building our Arsenal of Democracy.

And we will win. Our strategy is working.

As the President of the United States recently put it, UAW members “saved the automobile industry back in 2008. We made a lot of sacrifices. We gave up a lot. And the companies were in trouble. But now they’re doing incredibly well.  And guess what?  We should be doing incredibly well too.”

Over the last ten years, the Big Three have made a record quarter of a TRILLION dollars in North American profits.

Over the last six months, the Big Three have made a record $21 BILLION in total profits.

We knew going into this fight that the road ahead was going to be difficult.

And we knew that it was unlikely this would be quick.

To quote the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.

UAW family, you are the force that bends that arc.

Our anger is righteous. Our struggle is just.

We are fed up with corporate greed.

We are fed up with corporate excess.

We are fed up with breaking our bodies for companies that take more and more and give less and less.

And as of noon eastern today, 25,000 of us will be on strike for a better future.

To all our community and political allies, we invite you to join our picket lines.

To our UAW family still working on the job, keep monitoring for status quo violations and keep refusing voluntary overtime.

And keep showing the companies that you are ready to Stand Up when called.

When we win this fight, when we right the wrongs of the past 15 years, and when we set a new course for future generations, it won’t be because of any President.

Not the UAW President. Not the President of the United States.

It will be because ordinary people did extraordinary things.

Our solidarity is our strength.

And right now, our strength is the hope of working-class people everywhere.

Let’s Stand Up and win this thing. For ourselves. For our families. For our communities. For our country. And for our future.”