Signs of progress as UAW and Detroit automakers continue “active talks”

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain is scheduled to give an update Friday on the union’s labor contract negotiations with Detroit’s Big Three automakers, with some signs the sides are narrowing their differences as the strike inflicts an increasingly heavy financial toll.

Fain could call for additional strikes at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis or he could announce that progress has been made and halt the work stoppages. The union has so far limited the strike to about 25,000 workers at five vehicle assembly plants and 38 parts warehouses. Still, Fain has announced strike expansions on each of the past two Fridays.

Almost three weeks into the strike, there are rumblings in Michigan that the Big Three and the UAW are headed in the right direction. Both sides made meaningful progress during talks Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. A source with the UAW told CBS News that “active talks” are happening.

What automakers are offering

Ford said in a statement on its site that it increased its proposal to the union this week, offering a general wage increase of more than 20% over four years. Ford also said the company raised its retirement contributions and confirmed profit-sharing was offered to temporary workers. 

GM, which will announce third-quarter earnings later this month, made its latest offer to the UAW on September 21, the details of which neither side has made public. The automaker’s offer from September 14, however, included a 20% wage increase “over the life of the agreement” and cost-of-living adjustments. 

GM on Wednesday announced it has lined up a line of credit of up to $6 billion in light of the possibility of a longer strike. The company said it is “being prudent in the face of uncertainty.” GM also said it estimates the strike will cost the company about $200 million in lost production in the third quarter.

The most recent offer from Stellantis (the parent company of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram) also includes a 20% wage increase through 2027 for full-time employees, and a 6% company match for retirement contributions. 

When it began

The UAW launched a coordinated strike last month when nearly 13,000 autoworkers walked off the job in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio. Since then, the automakers have furloughed or laid off thousands of non-union workers at plants in five states.

Ford expanded its layoffs to 350 workers at a transmission plant in Livonia, Michigan, and 50 workers at an axle plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Those workers were officially laid off Thursday, bringing Ford’s total layoffs to 1,330, the company said in a statement.

“These are not lock outs,” Ford said. “These layoffs are a consequence of the strike at Chicago Assembly Plant, because these two facilities must reduce production of parts that would normally be shipped to Chicago Assembly Plant.”

So far, the strike has cost the auto industry about $3.9 billion, according to an estimate from Michigan-based consulting firm Anderson Economic Group. That includes $325 million in worker wages, $1.12 billion in losses for the automakers, $1.29 billion in losses for parts suppliers, and $1.2 billion in dealer and customer losses. The union has avoided strikes at large pickup truck and SUV factories, vehicles that are responsible for much of the automakers’ profits.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.