Autoworkers strike expands significantly against GM and Stellantis

Joe Biden announced late Friday that he will be visiting the United Auto Workers union's picket lines to show support for striker. It will be a first for any president.

Gavin Strassel, the UAW Archivist at Wayne State University in Detroit, said he can’t recall any president ever visiting the picket lines for any UAW strike in the past.

“I’ve been through many photos, and I’ve seen pictures of Lyndon Johnson meeting with [former UAW President Walter] Reuther, or presidents attending Labor Day events with the union," he said. "But I don’t know of any photos of presidents visiting a picket line. And I think I would know if there was one.”

Presidents generally don't want to be seen as taking sides in labor disputes. But Biden has already gone further than most in voicing support for the UAW's bargaining position. On the day the strike started he made brief remarks from the White House voicing echoing some of the union's talking points.

"Auto companies have seen record profits, including the last few years, because of the extraordinary skill and sacrifices of the UAW workers. But those record profits have not been shared fairly, in my view, with those workers," he said.

He said that the automakers “should go further" in their offers to the union.

"Record corporate profits — which they have — should be shared by record contracts for the UAW," he said.

President Joe Biden said in a post on X, “Tuesday, I’ll go to Michigan to join the picket line and stand in solidarity with the men and women of UAW as they fight for a fair share of the value they helped create. It’s time for a win-win agreement that keeps American auto manufacturing thriving with well-paid UAW jobs.”

President Joe Biden will travel to Michigan on Tuesday to support UAW workers, a source familiar with the trip tells CNN.

The plan was first reported by the Washington Post.

General Motors stock tumbled this week as the United Auto Workers continue to strike against Detroit's Big Three Automakers.

The United Auto Workers union said Friday it is expanding its ongoing strike against General Motors and Stellantis, but not Ford due to progress on negotiations. Ford shares climbed 1.9%, Stellantis added 0.7% and General Motors fell 0.4%.

The announcement comes days after Ford reached a tentative deal with the Canadian union Unifor, averting a strike that would have shuttered three factories.

But Ford shares still dipped 0.2% for the week and General Motors declined 4%. Stellantis shares managed to eke out a gain, adding 0.4%

President Joe Biden fired back with a joking retort when asked by Friday if he plans to visit United Autoworkers’ picket line, telling CNN, “Will you come with me?”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to say during Friday’s press briefing if Biden would visit strikers after UAW president Shawn Fain invited the president to join protesters earlier Friday.

But, asked twice by CNN in the Rose Garden, Biden joked “Will you come with me?” both times.

General Motors isn't ruling out trying to operate the 18 parts and disrtibution centers that the United Auto Workers union expanded its strikes to on Friday.

Asked if the company planned to try to operate the facilities using nonunion employees, such as salaried staff, or perhaps even replacement workers, GM reponded, "We have contingency plans for various scenarios and are prepared to do what is best for our business and customers. We are evaluating if and when to enact those plans."

The union did not have an immediate comment on GM's statement.

Ford has been on record as saying that if its 23 parts and distribution centers were struck, it intended to operate them using nonunion staff. It referred to that as a "responsible contingency plan" in order to "keep Ford vehicles on the road – especially to keep first responders and other essential services running." But the union did not strike Ford's centers Friday, citing progress in negotiations with that automaker.

Stellantis, which had 20 of its parts and distribution centers struck on Friday, declined to comment on questions about its plans for operations of its parts and distribution centers during the strike.

The future of the Stellantis parts and distribution centers had become a point of contention during negotiations since the start of the strike. The union had complained that Stellantis was planning to close those operations. The company said it was only planning up upgrade and in some cases move the locations to make them more efficient, and that it had given the union assurances that no jobs would be lost as part of the changes it planned for the center.

"In a lot of cases, it didn't make sense to make those investments in the location that they're in," said Mark Stewart, chief operating officer of Stellantis, in a briefing with reporters the day after the strike started.

But the union said that's not enough to protect the total number of jobs, that it needs to protect the jobs of members at the centers' current locations.

Stellantis said it made a very competitive offer to the United Auto Workers union on Thursday and that there was no reason for the union to expand the strike to its parts and distribution centers.

The company referred to leaked messages from the union's communications director Jonah Furman that made reference to the union being prepared to strike for months in its statement questioning the union's motives. Given the content of those messages, "we question whether the union’s leadership has ever had an interest in reaching an agreement in a timely manner," said Stellantis' statement. "They seem more concerned about pursuing their own political agendas than negotiating in the best interests of our employees and the sustainability of our US operations given the market’s fierce competition."

The company claimed it has yet to get a response to its most recent offer from the union.

"We look forward to the UAW leadership’s productive engagement so that we can bargain in good faith to reach an agreement," it said.

The White House declined to say if president Joe Biden will visit United Autoworkers picket line after UAW president Shawn Fain invited the president to join protesters earlier Friday.

“I don't have any updates to the president's schedule at this time-- just don't have anything to share,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. “But certainly the president appreciates Shawn Fain’s inviting him, including him, certainly with all the family and friends of the UAW."

Last week as the UAW announced the strike, Biden announced he was dispatching senior adviser Gene Sperling and acting Labor Secretary Julie Su to assist with negotiations between the nation’s largest autoworker union and representatives from the big three automakers, before changing course earlier this week and keeping the officials in Washington.

“We are, of course, in touch with the parties-- as you know, Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su and also Gene Sperling. have been in regular touch for the past several weeks with all parties,” Jean-Pierre said Friday. “Certainly, the parties continue to remain at the negotiation table, which is incredibly important, and so we've communicated to each of them the importance of continuing to work 24/7 to get to a win-win agreement, as you've heard us say many times.”

In a follow-up exchange, she said that the decision to keep the two officials in Washington “was a mutually agreed agreement,” but that they spoke today with all parties on the state of negotiations.

In comments from New York earlier this week, Biden signaled support for the autoworkers, but stopped short of explicitly backing the strike.

“Now let me be clear—whether it’s your autoworkers, or any other union worker, record corporation profits should mean record contracts for union workers,” he said Wednesday. 

The UAW's strike escalation has targeted America's parts makers for GM and Stellantis. That means new parts won't be sent to service centers, and dealerships will soon start running out, potentially forcing them to turn away repairs for cars, and heaps of potential revenue.

Customers could turn to independent garages, but they, too could run out of parts, causing a spike in prices.