US autoworkers launch historic strike: 3 questions answered

• The contracts expired at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 14, 2023.
• By midnight, the union posted a strike declaration on its website.
• The union is seeking higher pay, better benefits and assurances that large numbers of its members will work in the automakers’ growing number of electric-vehicle factories.

1. How important is it that this strike is affecting all three Detroit automakers?

• And in recent years, all workers employed by that automaker had walked off the job.
• That’s what happened in the previous UAW strike.
• While holding a strike against a few key plants breaks with recent UAW practices, it’s a strategy deeply rooted in the union’s history.
• By the time the strike was over, GM had agreed to sign a contract for the first time with the UAW.

2. How would you define success or failure for the UAW’s new strategy?

• In the process, we learned what determined the level of success of previous auto strikes.
• Workers threaten the company’s viability by withholding their labor, going without paychecks to halt production.
• Strikes fail when workers can’t create enough disruption to pressure the company to give in before strike funds run out.
• I believe that the UAW is likely to ultimately have more success with this strike than it has had in decades.

3. Is this strike likely to be historically significant?

• No Ford workers had gone on strike in the U.S. since 1978.
• Chrysler workers, who are now employed by Stellantis, last went on strike in 2007.
• If the UAW’s “stand-up” strike strategy succeeds, I think it’s likely that other labor organizers will embrace it too – potentially improving the leverage other workers have in their contract negotiations and strikes.