In late August, the UAW announced members voted about 97% in favor of the strike authorization. Workers have yet to regain those concessions, or a share in the $250bn profits the big three automakers have raked in over the past decade. The UAW president, Shawn Fain, was elected to head the union as part of a reform campaign within its ranks, aimed at taking a more aggressive approach towards bargaining after workers had accepted concessions amid bankruptcies during the 2008 economic recession. Meaning it would take 16 years for a full-time worker to earn what Barra earns in a week. Starting wages at GM’s Ultium Cells battery plant in Lordstown, Ohio, are just $16.50, according to the UAW. Meanwhile, auto manufacturing workers have seen their average real hourly earnings fall 19.3% since 2008, according to the Economics Policy Institute. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares made $24.8m in 2022 – 365 times the average worker’s $67,789 wage.ĬEO pay at the big three companies jumped by 40% between 20.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra made $29m in 2022 – 362 times the median wage of $80,034 at the company.įord CEO Jim Farley made $21m in 2022 – 281 times the median worker of $74,691. The vast disparity in pay between workers and their bosses is one of the UAW’s biggest bones of contention. 'This is history': car workers walk out in biggest auto strike in generations – video report How big is the pay gap? Workers are pushing for at least a 40% wage increase over four years in a new contract an end to two-tier wage systems in which new hires are paid significantly less for doing the same work an increase to benefits for retirees and return of a defined pension instead of a 401k reinstatement of cost-of-living adjustment raises a 32-hour working week job security protections and protections for workers affected by plant closures. The carmakers received huge bailouts and soon returned to record profits. The United Auto Workers (UAW) union says workers have never been fully compensated for the sacrifices they made after the 2008-09 financial crisis, when they agreed to a raft of cuts to save the industry. Given its scale, the strike could deal a significant blow to the US economy as well as the auto industry. It’s the latest in a series of strikes called or threatened by workers in industries including shipping and logistics, TV and movie production and hotel and leisure.

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