Sen. Vance supports UAW workers, pins blame on Biden for strike
Ohio Sen. JD Vance's position highlights the tricky spot Midwestern Republicans are in amid the UAW strike.
On one hand, as a member of the newer populist wing of the GOP who represents a state with a large union population, Vance has said he supports the UAW workers’ fight for higher wages, calling himself “among the most pro-labor Republicans in the U.S. Senate.” But he’s also trying to pin the blame for the strike and its potential economic impact on President Joe Biden.
Vance sent a letter today to senior Biden adviser Gene Sperling claiming that his role as the White House’s main liaison to the talks needs “scrutiny,” now that negotiations have fallen apart.
Further, Vance accused Sperling and the White House of steering the strikes into red states, including Ohio, suggesting without evidence that the administration — not UAW workers — chose their strike locations for political gain. “Only one strike affects Michigan, where the bulk of UAW members live and work. This pattern seems hardly coincidental,” suggesting that additional strikes in Michigan “could be costly” to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat and ally of Biden’s, and could hurt Biden himself in a state that Trump won in 2016.
“I fear that you have exploited the UAW to protect your boss at the expense of American workers,” Vance wrote to Sterling.
A UAW spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Vance’s claim.
Trump slams UAW strike, warns autoworkers' jobs going to China
Former President Donald Trump warned that U.S. autoworkers’ jobs will move to China and accused the United Auto Workers’ leadership of failing its members, thousands of whom went on strike today against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis.
“The autoworkers will not have any jobs, Kristen, because all of these cars are going to be made in China,” Trump told NBC News’ Kristen Welker in an exclusive, wide-ranging interview set to air Sunday on “Meet the Press.”
Biden says he respects UAW strike after talks collapse
President Joe Biden said today he hopes the United Auto Workers union and the Big Three auto companies return to the negotiating table to forge “a win-win agreement.”
“Let’s be clear, no one wants a strike,” Biden said in remarks from the White House after talks between both parties collapsed and union workers went on strike at midnight.
“But I respect workers’ right to use their options under the collective bargaining system,” he said.
Biden said he understands workers’ frustration and stressed that the "record profits" auto companies have earned "have not been shared fairly, in my view, with those workers.” He said he wants a “win-win” for both autoworkers and auto companies “that promotes good strong middle-class jobs that workers can raise a family on.”
GM's Barra: Economy will feel strike's 'ripple effects' soon
General Motors CEO Mary Barra told NBC News correspondent Jesse Kirsch that the UAW strike might start to affect the U.S. economy relatively soon, assuming the union and the Big Three don’t reach agreements on a new contract.
“For every GM job, there’s six other jobs that are associated with it, and that’s why the ripple effect can happen so fast. It’s not going to be good for the economy. It’s not going to be good for anyone,” she said.
Barra has been GM’s chief executive since January 2014, so this is the second UAW strike under her watch. The first targeted GM specifically and lasted 40 days in September and October 2019.
Chart: The largest strikes in U.S. history
The United Auto Workers strike has the potential to become one of the largest work stoppages in the past three decades — but this UAW strike is a far cry from the humongous strikes of the 20th century, when more than a half-million walked off their jobs in multiple strikes to fight for better workplaces.
GM's Mary Barra says car supplies might become tight quickly
The first General Motors employees to go on strike were workers at its Wentzville, Missouri, plant. CEO Mary Barra told NBC News the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon pickup trucks are made there, and that customers might start seeing the impact of those actions quickly.
"We can’t make enough of the products because customers want them. So it can have an immediate impact,” she told NBC News correspondent Jesse Kirsch.
Barra, who has been GM's CEO since 2014, added that car and truck supplies are unusually tight now, a point that experts have also noted.
“We still have not caught up from everything that’s happened in the last couple of years,” she said, referring to post-pandemic supply chain problems and specifically to semiconductor shortages.
GM CEO: No talks with striking workers expected today
General Motors CEO Mary Barra told NBC News that she does not expect the United Auto Workers union to negotiate with the Big Three today after 13,000 of its members walked off the job at midnight, beginning a strike against GM, Ford and Stellantis.
“My understanding is, no negotiation today,” she said. “Our team is at the table ready to continue and get the problem-solving we need to do to get people back to work.”
The UAW did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Why Stellantis could face a longer strike than Ford or GM
Stellantis has a problem that its local rivals don’t. The company, formed in early 2021 from a merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the French automaker Peugeot, has more production capacity than it needs around the world. Stellantis has signaled that it intends to close or sell 18 of its U.S. facilities, including factories and parts depots. The company has a total of about 35 factories and parts distribution centers in the U.S. now.
That’s a plan that the union is unlikely to accept willingly.
When will the inventory run out?
It’s tough to say just how long it will take for the strike to cut inventories at dealers and start hurting the companies’ bottom lines.
Jeff Schuster, head of automotive for the Global Data research firm, said Stellantis has the most inventory and could hold out longer. The company has enough vehicles at or en route to dealers to last for 75 days. Ford has a 62-day supply and GM has 51. All have been building as many highly profitable pickup trucks and big SUVS as they can.
Still, Schuster predicted the strikes could last longer than previous work stoppages such as a 2019 strike against GM that lasted 40 days.
“This one feels like there’s a lot more at risk here on both sides,” he said.
Photo: UAW picket outside Ford assembly plant
Members of United Auto Workers picket across the street from the Ford assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan, today