UAW President Shawn Fain says strike will not expand — for now

UAW President Shawn Fain said Friday in his weekly update on the nationwide strike against the Detroit Three automakers that he was not expanding the strike to more facilities.

But Fain told a Facebook Live audience of more than 47,000 viewers that he stands ready to make a call at any site in a moment's notice to expand the union's action.

Fain asked all UAW members and supporters to find one of many UAW strike lines on Saturday to picket and offer support for their fight by bringing food and music. Already, teachers and nurses and Teamsters members have walked the UAW picket lines around the country.

"Celebrate these members who are leading the way," he said. "Our Stand Up strikers embody the best of our union — the sacrifice, the courage, the creativity and the pride. The picket line is a sacred place. There's a lot of long, dark nights and there’s some bright, joyful days. We reunite with old friends and we make new ones. We learn what it means to stick together through hard times."

GM and Stellantis warned

While the UAW is "bargaining hard" with General Motors and Stellantis, "they're now on notice" that the UAW is entering a new phase of the fight, Fain said. "We'll see where things go."

Fain downplayed the idea some have that the UAW and its members are too ambitious or unreasonable.

"They think it’s dangerous to tell the working class that they deserve more," he said. "I want to be clear on this point, I didn’t raise members' expectations. Our broken economy is what’s raising our members' expectations. Our members are right to be angry. Corporate America rebounded after the Great Recession and profits are soaring. Corporate profits hit a 70-year high in 2022. Meanwhile, the working class has kept going backwards. We’ve seen our standard of living decline due to stagnant wages and rising inflation. Income inequality in the United States has now risen to heights not seen since the Great Depression."

Fain, whose national profile has evolved quickly into an international voice on behalf of working people, noted that he had been meeting with union leaders from Italy and the United Kingdom. He wore a red sweatshirt from the Italian Federation of Metalworkers, the largest industrial union in Italy, and voiced appreciation for their support of the UAW and all workers fighting for economic and social justice.

Fain frames the 2023 strike

Below are highlights of Fain's comments Friday:

• "Our fight is not just about us. It’s about the working class. Our companies exploit workers across borders. It’s our job to unite and organize across the borders as well."
• "We’re entering a new phase of this fight and it demands a new approach. ... We are prepared at any time to call on more locals to stand up and walk out."
• "We decide together whether we’ve won enough or whether we need to keep fighting for more … the membership decides."
• "Standing up for yourself is not dangerous. It’s our obligation to the working class and to future generations. What’s truly dangerous is to continue to allow inequality to spiral out of control. What’s dangerous is to allow the ultrarich to get richer while the working class falls further behind. What’s dangerous is to let companies and politicians kick workers while we’re down, gut our unions and rig our economy."
• "Unless employers start coming to their senses, unless we start to see real gains in our contracts that match the gains we see on Wall Street, I predict there will be a lot more strikes on the horizon."
• "If we’re going to raise standards rather than lower them, if we’re going to go from defense to offense, we're going to need reinforcements. We’re going to need to show up for each other in a big way."
• "We remain in a very, very strong position. Already the wage offers we’ve received are more than the combined raises of the past 15 years, COLA (cost-of-living adjustment) is back on the table in a serious way. Our (wage) progression at Ford is back to where it was in the mid-1990s."
• "Made in America doesn’t mean anything if it comes with falling wages, declining living standards and an uncertain future. That’s what our fight’s about. We’re here to save the American dream. Somebody has to stand up and say enough is enough."
• "The working class in this country is fed up with being bullied by rich corporations."
• "I don’t know where this journey is going to take us. We’re gunning for a deal and soon, a deal that honors our sacrifice and contribution ... that makes up for decades of givebacks, sellouts and insults."
• "I want us to look back on 2023 and be able to say, 'man, that was the first big win, that was the one where we really learned how to fight, that was the year we took our union back by standing up for ourselves.' "

Ford strike intended to alarm

The strike on the mighty Ford Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, launched just this week with 8,700 UAW workers, sends a message to Ford Motor Co. and others that patience is running low, Fain said. The plant generates $25 billion in revenue a year, building the F-Series Super Duty, Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator.

"That’s $48,000 a minute," Fain said. "Our labor at Kentucky Truck generates more revenue each minute than thousands of our members make in a year. The revenue generated by our members at Kentucky Truck is so high, if the plant were its own stand-alone business, it would rank in the Fortune 500."

Striking a lucrative truck plant that is known as the backbone of the company, Fain said, is a warning to everyone.

"We’re not messing around," he said. "Negotiation requires both sides making movement. If they’re not ready to move, we’re going to give them a push in a language they understand, dollars and cents."

Ford thought they could sit back and not make further progress in bargaining because they thought they had the best deal, Fain said. "They thought they figured out the so-called rules of the game, so we changed the rules. Now there’s only rule: Pony up."

'Go get the big checkbook'

Fain called on members to be ready to stand up and strike with little notice.

"A Ford executive told the press that, on the economics, 'the company has reached our limit.' He also said the company has 'stretched ourselves to get to this point,' " Fain said, angrily. "You know, I found a pathetic irony in that statement. ... How much further do they want America’s autoworkers to stretch? We’re not going to keep begging for scraps."

Fain took aim at Ford CEO Jim Farley directly for earning $21 million in compensation.

"We need him to do two things right now: Look in the mirror and look in Ford’s bank account," Fain said. "Go get the big checkbook, the one Ford uses when it wants to spend millions on corporate executives or on Wall Street giveaways."

Farley has said the deal offered is the best in 80 years, and the UAW is holding Ford hostage over battery plants.

While Fain accused Ford of threatening to close plants, Ford spokesman Mark Truby told the Detroit Free Press after Fain's remarks that Ford has product guarantees for every plant in writing already.

Fain challenged critics, saying after this four-week strike "everyone loses their minds" but few people talked about manufacturing plant closures and job losses over the past 20 years.

"When working-class people stand up and ask for more, it’s a crisis," he said.

"Our union is done playing defense. We’re going on offense. We’re done aiming low and settling lower. It’s time to start aiming high and seeing how close we can get to total economic and social justice," Fain said. "Together, we’re making history and together we’re going to stand up and win what we deserve."

Automakers: Focused on negotiations

GM spokesman David Barnas declined to comment on Fain's remarks.

Stellantis provided this statement, "The discussions between Stellantis and the UAW are focused on narrowing the gaps on issues that will bring immediate financial gains and job security for our employees while providing a bridge for the sustainability of the company. We have made progress this week and look for collaboration from the UAW to reach an agreement as soon as possible to get everyone back to work."

Truby said, "Ford made an outstanding offer that would make a meaningful difference in the quality of life for our 57,000 UAW-represented workers. We will continue to work to reach a deal."

More:UAW hits Ford with a surprise strike of nearly 9,000 workers at the Kentucky Truck Plant

More:In 'major' development, GM to put battery plants under master contract with union, UAW says

Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on the site formerly known as Twitter @phoebesaid.