Luis Feliz Leon

Auto Workers Spare Big 3, Win Landmark Just Transition at General Motors

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Three women smile at the camera with UAW on Strike signs.
October 06, 2023

On Facebook Live Friday afternoon, Auto Workers President Shawn Fain symbolically awarded roses to automakers General Motors, Stellantis, and Ford based on progress at the negotiating table, a reference to the reality show “The Bachelor.” The only thing missing was teary-eyed CEOs breathing a sigh of relief as the UAW agreed not to widen its strike to more factories for now.

Twenty-Five Thousand Auto Workers Are Now on Strike at the Big 3

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UAW members and supporters at a rally. Many hold signs saying UAW on Strike. Several have their children on their shoulders.
September 29, 2023

Seven thousand Auto Workers at two more assembly plants will walk off the job at noon ET today, UAW President Shawn Fain announced in a Facebook Live appearance this morning. Joining the strike are Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant and General Motors’ Lansing Delta Township Assembly in Michigan.

Scabs Deployed at GM Parts Distribution Centers

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Six smiling workers carrying "UAW On Strike" picket signs raise their fists in the air outside a GM CCA facility. The workers are a mix of Black and white, men and women. Some of the picket signs are wrapped in plastic bags, and one worker carries an open umbrella.
September 25, 2023

Auto workers at the Big 3 expanded their strike last Friday to a key vulnerability: parts distribution centers that supply dealerships with everything from water pumps to brake drums and spark plugs to replacement bumpers.

On Tuesday morning, General Motors began bringing in temps hired for $14 an hour to attempt to keep some of the parts and accessories flowing.

Auto Workers Strike Spreads to 38 Parts Depots

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Auto workers march with signs that say “Stellantis Bargining in bad faith” One man is carrying a four-year old child.
September 22, 2023

The clock has ticked and tocked for two of the Big 3 automakers. At noon 5,000 more members of the Auto Workers (UAW) at 38 parts distribution centers for Stellantis and General Motors walked off the job. The facilities are spread across 20 states.

‘No Justice, No Jeeps!’ Scenes from the Auto Workers Strike

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Workers hold signs at night--they are backlit by traffic and street lights but one sign is legible, saying ‘everyone tier one.’
September 15, 2023

The strike is on. Last night the Auto Workers (UAW) shut down three major assembly plants at Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler). It’s the first time in history the union has struck all three companies at once.

Auto Workers Strike Plants at All Three of the Big 3

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A group of smiling workers leave through factory turnstiles, walking towards the camera.
September 15, 2023

Tick, tock. At midnight the clock ran out, and auto workers massed on picket lines.

The first-ever simultaneous strike at the Big 3 automakers—General Motors, Ford, Stellantis—started September 15 with 13,000 workers walking out of three assembly plants in Michigan, Ohio, and Missouri. There are 146,000 Auto Workers (UAW) members at the Big 3.

The UAW is calling its strategy the “stand-up strike,” a nod to the Flint sit-down strike of 1936-1937 that helped establish the union.

‘The Cost of Doing Nothing Is Much Higher’: Big Three Auto Workers Prepare to Strike

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A group of five auto workers pose in their union hall with blue signs that say "End Tiers," "Every Auto Job a Good Job," and "United for a Strong Contract."
September 12, 2023

Two days before their contract expires at midnight Thursday, the Auto Workers (UAW) are poised to strike the Big 3 automakers—General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis—to recoup concessions made over the past two decades, end tiers, boost wages, and fight for a shorter workweek and other quality-of-life demands.

Lessons from Lively Picket Lines

Luis Feliz Leon
Alexandra Bradbury
A crowd surrounds a large festive purple piggy-bank piñata suspended above them. It is labeled NYU and is in school colors, purple and gold.

The heat was scorching in Louisville, Kentucky, last Thursday. But what the windless day lacked in gusts, it made up in guts.

The union-made placards read: “United for a Strong Contract.” That resonated with auto workers at Ford who hadn’t been part of a contract rally for as long as anyone can remember.

And the picket line came alive when they broke away from the tedious repetition of “Who’s got the power? We’ve got the power!” and used their own chants.

Kentucky Auto Workers at Ford Are Preparing for a Strike

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A fired up crowd of about 50 holds round yellow signs saying UAW Local 862 and blue and white signs saying United for a Strong Contract and Every Auto Job a Good Job.
August 28, 2023

Five hundred Auto Workers (UAW) from Local 862 held rallies in Louisville, Kentucky, August 24 and 25, part of a wave of practice pickets and rallies around the country.

Class struggle was on everyone’s lips. A variety of issues brought them to the picket, but the auto workers there were unanimous about turbocharged wealth inequality leaving workers behind.

Fired-Up Auto Workers Are Ready to Battle the Big 3

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A young Black woman and her three children, all in red shirts, pose with UAW president Shawn Fain, a white man, also in a red shirt.
August 21, 2023

Sunday afternoon at the Auto Workers (UAW) Region 1 Pavilion in Warren, Michigan, felt a lot like church. Auto workers came together in sweltering heat to rally each other with fiery speeches, cheers, and songs in the first Big 3 contract rally anyone can remember.

The contracts with Ford, General Motors (GM), and Stellantis expire September 14.

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