The Brooklyn waterfront is the setting for the adaptive reuse project Refinery at Domino, in which a … [+] one-time sugar refinery has been converted into a 460,000, Class A, all-electric office building.
Max Touhey | www.metouhey.com
All over the U.S., developers, architects, environmentalists, history buffs, employers, renters, homeowners and countless others are coming to one realization. Adaptive reuse holds the power to transform urban environs like few other projects.
The benefits of converting age-old structures to new and different uses are compelling. Adaptive reuse represents a more sustainable means of creating new developments. It is also a method saving developers the cost of razing old buildings. It puts back into productive use older structures that may have stood empty for years or decades. Because structures built before 1950 were built for a much less automobile-dependent society, adaptive reuse projects tend to restore density and encourage walking within the districts where they’re located.
Adaptive reuse also allows urban areas to retain historic character and a sense of place. And for an office tenant or a home buyer, work or home life in a converted building confers a whole different and authentic kind of ambience.
Sweet project
For these reasons and still others, many eyes have been focused on Brooklyn’s Williamsburg waterfront, where a one-time Domino sugar factory has been transformed through adaptive reuse into a new property called The Refinery at Domino. The new, 460,000-square-foot all-electric Class A office building opens today, Sept. 27.
The Refinery at Domino blends the historical charm of the landmarked building with upsides of a new-construction development. Partnering with Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), Brooklyn-based Two Trees Management produced a glass building within the building’s historic brick façade. Within the building, a large-scale living landscape seamlessly links to the surrounding natural elements and greenery.
“Converting the old factory into an all-electric office building is a key part of Two Trees’ plan for Domino’s mixed-use community,” says Dave Lombino, Two Trees’ managing director, external affairs. “Our careful revitalization of the former Domino Sugar Factory into a Class A office space enabled us to create a sustainable workplace of the future, while paying homage to New York City’s rich history.”
Other examples
The Refinery at Domino takes its place alongside some of the nation’s highest-profile adaptive reuse projects. In Detroit, the old Michigan Central Station is primed to reopen its doors in 2024 for the first time in more than three decades.
The 30-acre site will offer stores, cultural programming and a public space where locals and international visitors can congregate for special events. Already reopened on the campus is a 1936 Albert Kahn-designed Art Deco landmark that served in different eras as a post office and later a book depository, and now has been repurposed as a 270,000-square-foot workspace and innovation center.
In Los Angeles, a revitalization of the 60-year-old California Mart — once the center for the city’s fashion business – has yielded California Market Center (CMC). Spanning a full city block in L.A.’s fashion district, the 1.8 million-square-foot CMC is a new kind of office center, designed to be a place where the city’s emerging technology, media, entertainment and fashion industries intersect.
Iconic landmark
The Refinery’s transition was built upon a trio of design thrusts, Vishaan Chakrabarti, founder and creative director for PAU, says.
The first was inserting a contemporary building in the sleeve of the historic structure. The second involved creating a glass barrel vault form paying homage to the American Round Arch style of the original. A third required opening the ground floor to the park and the surrounding neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
“This approach has created an iconic landmark for the 21st Century, offering users natural light, luscious greenery, waterfront views and a contemporary dialogue with history that most new commercial projects lack,” he says. “Although conceived before the pandemic, the Refinery represents a future of work that offers a unique rootedness in place, and community that is invaluable going forward.”
Tua Tagovailoa throws for 309 yards and four touchdowns while Raheem Mostert and De’Von Achane combine for 285 rushing yards and five touchdowns to steer the Miami Dolphins to a team-record 70-20 victory over the Denver Broncos
Last Updated: 24/09/23 11:34pm
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Highlights of the Denver Broncos against the Miami Dolphins in Week Three of the NFL
Highlights of the Denver Broncos against the Miami Dolphins in Week Three of the NFL
The Miami Dolphins posted over 700 yards of offense on their way to a franchise-record 70-20 victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
Mike McDaniel’s side logged the most points in a game by an NFL team since 1966 and the fourth 70-point game in history, falling short of the regular-season record of 72 points set by Washington.
Tua Tagovailoa, who was 16 of 16 in the first half, completed 23 of 26 passes for 309 yards and four touchdowns, before backup Mike White threw for 67 yards and a score upon entering the game late. Rookie running back De’Von Achane meanwhile rushed for 203 yards and two scores in the company of Raheem Mostert’s 82 yards for three touchdowns and Chris Brooks’ 63 yards on the ground.
“Shame on us if you put a ceiling on what you’re capable of,” McDaniel told reporters. “If you just worry about the right things, you don’t worry about anything but your technique and fundamentals and assignment within the team, don’t worry about stats or credit, it’s amazing what a group of people can do going in one direction.
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A clever Miami Dolphins play design executed perfectly by Tua Tagovailoa as he finds De’Von Achane with this clever no-look pass for the touchdown
A clever Miami Dolphins play design executed perfectly by Tua Tagovailoa as he finds De’Von Achane with this clever no-look pass for the touchdown
“The points don’t carry over but I do think this is a meaningful game for a lot of guys to understand to not let an opportunity on the field together slip through your fingers in any way, shape or form, because collectively we have all the right people to do some pretty cool stuff on the field.
“It’s just incredible, it goes through my mind all the intentional work that goes into it.
“I was most proud of the unrelenting nature we had. I think it was the first outside of the Houston game last year where we had a lead of maybe three touchdowns or more going into the half and it ended up being pretty close at the end. So we want guys to learn from stuff. It’s so key you don’t let the ebbs and flows of the game interject with how you play football, that’s the biggest thing the guys can learn from this game.”
Tagovailoa enjoyed another incredible day under center for the Dolphins
Miami had the chance to top Washington’s all-time record when they moved into field goal range, but instead elected to take a knee to ice the win.
“It felt like chasing points, chasing a record is not what we came here to do,” said McDaniel. “Ten times out of 10 you concede and kneel down. The message it would send wasn’t really in line with how I view things.”
Victory moved the Dolphins to 3-0 on the year and, for all of Denver’s struggles, reinforced their Super Bowl credentials behind a red-hot Tagovailoa.
Miami’s previous record had been 55 points set against St Louis on November 24, 1977, the Dolphins surpassing that mark on Achane’s 10-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter and Jason Sanders’ subsequent extra point.
The Dolphins are the first team to score five rushing touchdowns and five receiving touchdowns in the Super Bowl era, per ESPN stats. Their 726 total yards are meanwhile second only to the 1951 Rams’ 735 against the Yanks.
President Biden will travel to Michigan next week to meet with the United Auto Workers who are striking against Detroit’s Big Three automakers. This comes after the union expanded its historic strike Friday to include General Motors and Stellantis parts distribution centers across 20 states. CBS News senior transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave reports.
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DETROIT — The United Auto Workers is expanding strikes to 38 parts and distribution locations across 20 states, targeting General Motors and Stellantis, UAW President Shawn Fain said Friday morning.
The union will not initiate additional strikes at Ford Motor, as the company has proven it’s “serious about reaching a deal,” Fain said in a Facebook Live comment.
“We still have serious issues to work through, but we do want to recognize that Ford is showing that they’re serious about reaching a deal,” said the outspoken union leader. “At GM and Stellantis, it’s a different story.”
Fain said the union and Ford have made progress on issues including eliminating some wage tiers, reinstating cost-of-living adjustments and an improved profit-sharing formula.
He also said the union won the right to strike over plant closures during the term of the deal as well as an immediate conversion of temporary, or supplemental, workers — those with at least 90 days of employment — upon ratification.
Ford said the company is “working diligently with the UAW to reach a deal,” but “we still have significant gaps to close on the key economic issues.”
(L-R) Supporter Ryan Sullivan, and United Auto Workers members Chris Sanders-Stone, Casey Miner, Kennedy R. Barbee Sr. and Stephen Brown picket outside the Jeep Plant on September 18, 2023 in Toledo, Ohio.
Sarah Rice | Getty Images
“In the end, the issues are interconnected and must work within an overall agreement that supports our mutual success,” Ford said in a statement Friday.
The strikes at the GM and Stellantis parts suppliers will add roughly 5,600 autoworkers, including roughly 3,500 employees at GM, to the UAW’s ongoing strikes at the Detroit automakers.
“Today’s strike escalation by the UAW’s top leadership is unnecessary,” GM said in a statement. “We have now presented five separate economic proposals that are historic, addressing areas that our team members have said matters most: wage increases and job security while allowing GM to succeed and thrive into the future.
“We will continue to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible,” the automaker said.
Stellantis said in a statement it questions “whether the union’s leadership has ever had an interest in reaching an agreement in a timely manner.”
Roughly 12,700 UAW workers went on strike a week ago at the following locations: GM’s midsize truck and full-size van plant in Wentzville, Missouri; Ford’s Ranger midsize pickup and Bronco SUV plant in Wayne, Michigan; and Stellantis’ Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator plant in Toledo, Ohio.
Parts distribution centers have been a major point of concern during these talks, especially at Stellantis. The automaker has proposed consolidating 10 “Mopar” parts and distribution centers, which are scattered across the country, into larger Amazon-like distribution centers.
GM has agreed to eliminate the wage differences at its parts and components plants, according to Fain. He commended the Detroit automaker for that action but condemned it for resisting further measures that Ford has agreed to with the union.
Targeting the parts and distribution centers is a unique strategy. It does not affect the production and assembly of vehicles but rather the distribution of parts to dealers.
The new work stoppages, if prolonged, could cause significant disruption for dealers, which could in turn delay fixes for customers. Repair wait times have already been problematic due to recent supply chain issues.
“This will impact these two companies repairs operations,” Fain said. “Our message to the consumer is simple: The way to fix the frustrating customer experience is for the companies to end price gauging. Invest these record profits into stable jobs and stable wages and benefits.”
Many, including Wall Street analysts, expected the union to expand work stoppages to full-size truck plants of the Detroit automakers, which are crucial to the profitability of the companies.
The affected facilities for GM include 18 plants in 13 states: Michigan, Ohio, Colorado, Wisconsin, Illinois, Nevada, California, Texas, West Virginia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.
For Stellantis, the extended strikes affect 20 facilities in 14 states: Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado, Illinois, California, Oregon, Georgia, Virginia, Florida, Texas, New York and Massachusetts.
“This expansion will also take our fight nationwide,” Fain said. “We will keep going, keep organizing and keep expanding the stand-up strike as necessary.”
UAW began targeted strikes after the sides failed to reach tentative agreements by the expiration of the previous contracts at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 14.
The additional plant strikes come despite record contract offers from the automakers, including roughly 20% hourly wage increases, thousands of dollars in bonuses, retention of the union’s platinum health care and other sweetened benefits.
Stellantis said on Friday it had made a “very competitive offer” that would see current full-time hourly employees earning between $80,000 and $96,000 a year by the end of the contract, constituting a 21.4% compounded increase; a long-term solution for an idled factory in Belvidere, Illinois; and, “significant product allocation that allows for workforce stability through the end of the contract.”
“We still have not received a response to that offer,” the company said.
The union has demanded 40% hourly pay increases, a shortened workweek, a shift back to traditional pensions, the elimination of compensation tiers and a restoration of cost-of-living adjustments, among other improvements.
United Auto Workers members and supporters rally at the Stellantis North America headquarters on September 20, 2023 in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
Bill Pugliano | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The additional strikes come a day after The Detroit News Thursday night reported leaked messages involving UAW communications director Jonah Furman that raised questions about the union’s motives for the work stoppages.
In the undated private group messages, viewed by CNBC, Furman describes UAW’s strategy and targeted strikes as causing “recurring reputations damage and operational chaos.”
Furman, who did not respond for comment, said if the union “can keep them wounded for months they don’t know what to do.”
Fain did not address the messages on Facebook Live beyond discussing the union’s strategy of “doing things differently” to “win record contracts.”
— CNBC’s Gabriel Cortes and John Rosevear contributed to this report.
The United Auto Workers is expanding its historic strike against Detroit’s Big Three automakers to include General Motors and Stellantis parts distribution centers across 20 states.
UAW President Shawn Fain said during a Facebook Live address on Friday that workers at 38 GM and Stellantis facilities will walk off the job at noon local time. GM and Stellantis “are going to need some serious pushing” to get closer to an agreement, said the union leader, who wore a black-and-white camouflage-printed union shirt.
“We’re not going to wait around forever for a fair contract,” said Fain. “The companies know how to make this right.”
Notably, the labor group is not targeting Ford for additional strikes. The union is making progress with Ford on wage, job security and other issues, according to Fain, who said the company “is serious about reaching a deal.”
Ford has agreed to dismantle the two-tiered wage system at its Components and Sterling axel assembly plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan, according to Fain. The automaker has also agreed to reinstate cost-of-living adjustments — which were eliminated in 2009 — and the right to strike over plant closures. Other concessions Ford made include beefed-up profit-sharing payments that will also be offered to temporary workers who have been on the job for 90 days.
“Ford is working diligently with the UAW to reach a deal that rewards our workforce and enables Ford to invest in a vibrant and growing future,” the company said in a statement Friday. “Although we are making progress in some areas, we still have significant gaps to close on the key economic issues.”
Roughly 5,600 Big Three workers will join the nearly 13,000 who are already on strike.
“In selecting the parts distribution centers, the UAW creates a scenario where manufacturing disruptions will be more difficult to predict or manage, and could be widespread,” Joe Langley, associate director of North American production forecasting at S&P Global Mobility. “A vehicle has thousands of parts, and if one is missing it cannot be completed.”
The UAW’s move to escalate the work stoppage highlights how far the side remain apart on core union demands, which include a 36% pay increase across a four-year contract, annual cost-of-living adjustments, pension benefits for all employees, greater job security and a four-day work week.
GM and Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep, have rejected the union’s proposals for job security, reduced-use of temporary workers and profit-sharing, which is why the union’s expanded strike targets their facilities, Fain said. Those plants will remain on strike until GM and Stellantis submit more substantive offers, he said.
GM said in a statement Friday that the strike targeting 18 of its facilities is unnecessary and that it adversely impacts “more than 3,000 team members plus their families and communities.”
“We have now presented five separate economic proposals that are historic, addressing areas that our team members have said matters most: wage increases and job security while allowing GM to succeed and thrive into the future,” the carmaker said in a statement. “We will continue to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.”
Stellantis didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The automakers argue they’re facing pressure to keep costs low in order to compete with Tesla and foreign car makers, while also investing money into the rapidly growing electric vehicle market. The companies also say their counteroffers are reasonable, while signaling they are willing to negotiate further.
“If we don’t continue to invest, we will lose ground — quickly,” GM President Mark Reuss wrote Wednesday in an op-ed published in the Detroit Free Press. “Our competitors across the country and around the world, most of whom are non-union, will waste no time seizing the opportunity we would be handing them.”
What does the UAW want?
The UAW is also seeking limited use of temporary workers and more paid time off, as well as stronger job protections, including the right to strike over plant closings.
The union argues that the Big Three reaped hefty profits as car prices surged during the pandemic, while workers failed to enjoy the same benefits.
“Autoworkers have waited long enough to make things right at the Big Three,” Fain said in a video earlier this week. “We’re not waiting around, and we’re not messing around.”
“Companies have made some significant offers, but I believe it should go further — to ensure record corporate profits mean record contracts,” Mr. Biden said.
Why target the parts facilities?
Among other issues, the UAW is pushing automakers to eliminate the two-tiered wage system present at all three companies. Higher-tier workers — anyone who joined the company before 2007 — make roughly $33 an hour. Anyone who joined after that year is classified as lower tier, and their pay starts at around $17 an hour. Lower-tier employees also don’t receive defined benefit pensions, and their health benefits are less generous.
Fain said employees at parts distribution centers are disproportionately impacted by the pay structure.
“At Stellantis and GM… workers at parts distribution centers are permanently stuck on a lower wage scale,” he said. “For workers hired after 2015, top pay maxes out at just $25 an hour, and it takes eight years to get there.”
Although GM has offered to raise those wages, the UAW is also pressing for cost-of-living increases and more job security, Fain said.
Staging walkouts at the GM and Stellantis parts distribution centers is aimed at making it harder for the companies to repair cars at their dealerships, Fain said.
The move “goes at the hearts and lungs of auto operations for GM and Stellantis given the ripple impact/pressure points and is a clear shot across the bow at both,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said in a report.
Lynne Vincent, a business management professor at Syracuse University, said the UAW’s “selective striking” strategy is aimed at maximizing the worker’ leverage while keeping the automakers off balance.
“It gives them the power of surprise so the Big Three cannot fully strategize and create their own counter tactic,” said Vincent, an expert on the psychological impacts of strikes.
United Auto Workers members and supporters on a picket line outside the General Motors Co. Ypsilanti Processing Center in Ypsilanti, Michigan, on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023.
Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The UAW’s so-called stand-up strike — a rhetorical nod to the Flint, Michigan, “sit-down” strike against GM in the 1930s — kicked off on September 15 when Ford, GM and Stellantis workers in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio walked off the job after negotiations between the automakers and the UAW failed to yield a new labor agreement.
The automakers responded by announcing temporary layoffs at some factories, beginning with Ford Motor which had temporarily laid off 600 non-striking workers at its assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan, on September 15, only hours after employees at the facility had walked off the job.
Stellantis announced this week it was temporarily laying off 68 workers at a plant outside Toledo because of the ongoing strike, with more layoffs expected at its transmission plant in Kokomo, Indiana. GM said it will lay off 2,000 workers at its plant in Kansas City, Kansas, because there’s no work for them since they depend on parts from the Wentzville facility.
Workers from those plants, as well as those walking off from the 38 distribution sites added Friday, will be paid through the UAW’s $825 million strike fund.
Experts say the economic impact of the UAW strike could extend beyond the auto industry. A work stoppage lasting three weeks could cost the U.S. economy $415 million, according to an estimate from The Perryman Group.
Here are the GM and Stellantis parts distribution facilities where workers are set to strike.
General Motors
Pontiac Redistribution (Pontiac, Michigan)
Willow Run Redistribution (Belleville, Michigan)
Ypsilanti Processing Center (Ypsilanti, Michigan)
Davidson Road Processing Center (Burton, Michigan)
Flint Processing Center (Swartz Creek, Michigan)
Lansing Redistribution (Lansing, Michigan)
Cincinnati Parts Distribution (Westchester, Ohio)
Denver Parts Distribution (Aurora, Colorado)
Hudson Parts Distribution (Hudson, Wisconsin)
Chicago Parts Distribution (Bolingbrook, Illinois)
Reno Parts Distribution Center (Reno, Nevada)
Rancho Cucamonga Parts Distribution (Rancho Cucamonga, California)
Fort Worth Parts Distribution (Roanoke, Texas)
Martinsburg Parts Distribution (Martinsburg, West Virginia)
Jackson Parts Distribution (Brandon, Mississippi)
Charlotte Parts Distribution (Charlotte, North Carolina)
Memphis AC Delco Parts Distribution (Memphis, Tennessee)
Philadelphia Parts Distribution (Langhorne, Pennsylvania)
Stellantis
Marysville (Marysville, Michigan)
Centerline Packaging (Center Line, Michigan)
Centerline Warehouse (Center Line, Michigan)
Sherwood (Warren, Michigan)
Warren Parts (Warren, Michigan)
Quality Engineering Center (Auburn Hills, Michigan)
Khristopher J. Brooks is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering business, consumer and financial stories that range from economic inequality and housing issues to bankruptcies and the business of sports.
(L-R) Supporter Ryan Sullivan, and United Auto Workers members Chris Sanders-Stone, Casey Miner, Kennedy R. Barbee Sr. and Stephen Brown picket outside the Jeep Plant on September 18, 2023 in Toledo, Ohio.
Sarah Rice | Getty Images
DETROIT — With a deadline for expanded strikes by the United Auto Workers against the Detroit automakers closing in, the “serious progress” called for by the union seems all too elusive.
The UAW and General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis are all holding their ground on demands, and it appears likely the union will strike additional plants at some, if not all, of the automakers at noon Friday — as it’s warned.
While talks are ongoing, there has been little reported movement in proposals since the strikes were initiated on Sept. 15 at assembly plants in Michigan, Ohio and Missouri. Sources familiar with the talks describe a “big” gap in demands and the parties being “far apart.”
Headline economic issues and benefits such as hourly pay, retirement benefits, cost-of-living adjustments, wage progression and work-life balance remain central to the discussions. All issues play into one another and can change based on demand priorities.
Each automaker has its own unique issues, but overall the companies want to avoid fixed costs and what they’ve called “uncompetitive practices” such as traditional pensions. The union, in contrast, is attempting to regain benefits lost during past talks and secure significant increases to pay and other benefits, while retaining platinum health care for members.
In the end, it comes down to money, and how much a deal will cost the companies. Wall Street is currently expecting record costs to come from a settlement, though still below the $6 billion to $8 billion in demands the union would like, according to Wells Fargo.
Here’s a general overview of where the union and companies stand on key issues.
Union leaders have been highly transparent during collective bargaining this year with the automakers. However, they’ve largely been quiet on any potential for compromise around a demand of 40% wage increases over four and a half years.
Media reports indicate the union has adjusted that demand to the mid-30% range. UAW President Shawn Fain last week said the union has not made an offer below 30%.
The automakers have countered with wage increases of around 20% over the length of the contract — what would still be a record — to a top wage of more than $39 per hour for a majority of workers.
Sources familiar with the talks say if the companies do increase hourly wages beyond that 20% level, they’re likely to lower other benefits or reduce jobs in the future to try to make up the difference.
A Ford source said the company’s current proposals would offer entry-level employees starting salaries of about $60,000, potentially increasing to $100,000 or more during the life of the deal. That includes base pay, expected overtime, profit-sharing and other cash bonuses.
Under GM’s latest proposal, President Mark Reuss said about 85% of current represented employees would earn a base wage of about $82,000 a year. That’s compared with the average median household income of $51,821 in nine areas where GM has major assembly plants, he said.
Wage tiers — putting autoworkers into distinct pay ranges or classifications — is a tricky, moving target.
The companies and union have defined tiers differently during past negotiations as well as during the talks this year. Tiers can signify the following scenarios: workers doing the same job for different pay and benefits; similar but different job responsibilities; or differences between workers at assembly and components plants, depending on the talks.
The UAW has called broadly for “equal pay for equal work.” It’s a cornerstone of the group’s platform, while automakers have historically argued for pay to be based on seniority, job classification and responsibilities.
So-called tiers were established in 2007 as a concession by the union to allow lower wages and benefits for workers hired after the contracts were ratified that year — what became known as a second tier. The starting pay of these workers was roughly half that of the incumbent workers, and they would not be eligible for the same active health-care benefits, pensions or retiree health-care coverage.
The union has won some similar benefits back for newer workers compared to veteran, or “legacy” ones, but there remains different classifications of workers and pay tiers that amount to “in-progression” wages, in which a worker earns more the longer they’re employed.
For this year, the automakers have largely proposed cutting an existing eight-year pay progression in half and eliminating some pay discrepancies between workers who do similar jobs such as parts and components.
The union would like to eliminate the in-progression pay structure entirely and have workers across the contract earning the same wage (after a 90-day adjustment period) including temporary, or supplemental, workers.
One source familiar with the talks said there’s a “philosophical difference” between the sides. Ford, which utilizes the fewest temporary workers, has agreed to move all current temps with 90 days of work to full-time employees.
The UAW suspended cost-of-living adjustments in 2009, as the companies attempted to cut costs. COLA helps employees maintain the value of their compensation against inflation.
The union now wants to reinstate COLA, especially following a period of decades-high inflation. But the automakers, in general, have proposed either lump-sum payments or suggested utilizing calculations based on inflation levels that the union argues wouldn’t be sufficient to offset increased costs.
Automakers have further argued that profit-sharing payments that have traditionally been based on North American profits of the companies have assisted in offsetting inflation.
The companies are attempting to change or lower profit-sharing payments to offset other increased costs, while the union would like an enhanced formula.
The UAW previously outlined a calculation of providing $2 for every $1 million spent on share buybacks and increases to normal dividends.
The union has proposed better work-life balance, including a potential 32-hour workweek for the pay of 40 hours. It has argued that salaried workers are allowed remote or hybrid work, giving them more time at home with their families.
A shorter workweek has been a non-starter for the automakers, which have countered with additional vacation time, added holiday pay such as for Juneteenth and two-week paternal leave, in some cases.
For the UAW, product commitments equal jobs, meaning more members for the union.
UAW leaders are specifically concerned with vehicle production commitments at Stellantis, which has proposed closing, selling or consolidating 18 facilities. The locations included its North American headquarters, 10 parts and distribution centers and three manufacturing components facilities (two of which have already been fully or partially decommissioned).
A source familiar with the talks said GM has committed product to all of its facilities, following three closures four years ago.
The UAW has demanded a “significant” increase in pay for retired workers. The union last week said the companies had rejected all such increases. However, GM CEO Mary Barra said the automaker included in its offer a lump-sum cash payment of $500 for retirees.
A Ford source said the company’s current offer includes a health-care retirement bonus program with lump sums of either $50,000 or $35,000, upon retirement, based on seniority, for newer workers.
Automakers also have pushed back on returning to traditional pensions in lieu of 401(k) plans.
A proposal last week by Ford included a 6.4% contribution from the company and $1 per hour for every hour worked, with a previous cap removed, according to a company source.
GM also offered an unconditional 6.4% company 401(k) contribution for employees who are not eligible for pensions.
The auto workers’ strike against Detroit’s Big Three entered its fourth day with no signs of an early breakthrough and amid a threat by the United Auto Workers that the labor action could soon escalate.
A spokesman for General Motors said that representatives of the company and the labor group were continuing to negotiate. But In a video statement late Monday, UAW President Shawn Fain said more factories could be targeted if “serious progress” toward an agreement isn’t reached by Friday at noon.
“Autoworkers have waited long enough to make things right at the Big Three. We’re not waiting around, and we’re not messing around,” he said.
So far the strike is limited to about 13,000 workers at three factories — one each at GM, Ford Motor and Stellantis. GM warned, however, that 2,000 UAW-represented workers at an assembly plant in Kansas City are “expected to be idled as soon as early this week” because of a shortage of supplies from a GM plant near St. Louis, where workers walked off the job Friday.
Workers at the Kansas City plant build the Chevrolet Malibu and Cadillac XT4.
Ford on Friday moved to temporarily lay off 600 non-striking workers at its assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan, only hours after other employees at the facility had walked off the job.
“This layoff is a consequence of the strike at Michigan Assembly Plant’s final assembly and paint departments, because the components built by these 600 employees use materials that must be e-coated for protection,” the company said in a statement Friday. “E-coating is completed in the paint department, which is on strike.”
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she is hoping for a quick resolution, and that it is too soon to gauge the impact of the strike.
“It’s premature to be making forecasts about what it means for the economy. It would depend on how long the strike lasts and who would be affected by it,” she said on CNBC.
In a sign of the potential economic and political of a long strike, President Joe Biden is sending two top administration officials to Detroit this week to meet with both sides. Biden has sided with the UAW in brief public comments, saying that the automakers have not fairly shared their record profits with workers.
An administration official said Monday that acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and senior aide Gene Sperling will not serve as mediators — they won’t be at the bargaining table — but are going to Detroit “to help support the negotiations in any way the parties feel is constructive.” The official was not authorized to discuss private discussions and spoke anonymously.
The UAW’s Fain on Sunday shot down an offer by Stellantis — which owns Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and RAM, along with major foreign brands including Citroën, Peugeot and Maserati — to hike its worker’ wages by 21% over four years.
Ford and GM have also each offered a roughly 20% pay bump. The union is asking for a 36% hike over a four-year contract.
The union also wants the Big Three automakers to eliminate their two-tier wage model, which results in many workers earning less than the average wage of $32 an hour; offer defined benefit pensions to all employees; limit the the use of temporary workers; offer a four-day workweek; and provide more job protections, including the right to strike over plant closings.
“Our demands are just,” Fain said on “Face the Nation.” “We’re asking for our fair share in this economy and the fruits of our labor.”
Rather than launching an all-out strike of its 146,000 members, the union opted to target three factories a plan that could make the union’s $825 million strike fund last longer. Workers walked out of a GM plant in Wentzville, Missouri, a Ford plant near Detroit, and a Stellantis factory in Toledo, Ohio, that produces Jeeps.
A key feature of the UAW strategy is the threat of escalating the strike if the union is unhappy with the pace of bargaining. On Friday, Fain said more factories could be targeted: “It could be in a day, it could be in a week.”
Strategically, targeting three factories “certainly created more uncertainty,” Harry Katz, the Jack Sheinkman Professor of Collective Bargaining at Cornell University, told CBS News, adding that Fain is signaling that “he’s a tough, militant guy that’s not going to agree to concessions.”
The UAW “will get a strong agreement — it’s a question of how and when they reach a compromise,” Katz predicted.
The auto workers’ strike against Detroit’s Big Three went into its fourth day with no signs of an early breakthrough and against the threat that the walkout could soon spread.
A spokesman for General Motors said that representatives of the company and the United Auto Workers were continuing to negotiate on Monday.
So far the strike is limited to about 13,000 workers at three factories — one each at GM, Ford Motor and Stellantis. GM warned, however, that 2,000 UAW-represented workers at an assembly plant in Kansas City are “expected to be idled as soon as early this week” because of a shortage of supplies from a GM plant near St. Louis, where workers walked off the job Friday.
Workers at the Kansas City plant build the Chevrolet Malibu and Cadillac XT4.
Ford on Friday moved to temporarily lay off 600 non-striking workers at its assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan, only hours after other employees at the facility had walked off the job.
“This layoff is a consequence of the strike at Michigan Assembly Plant’s final assembly and paint departments, because the components built by these 600 employees use materials that must be e-coated for protection,” the company said in a statement Friday. “E-coating is completed in the paint department, which is on strike.”
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she is hoping for a quick resolution, and that it is too soon to gauge the impact of the strike.
“It’s premature to be making forecasts about what it means for the economy. It would depend on how long the strike lasts and who would be affected by it,” she said on CNBC.
In a sign of the potential economic and political of a long strike, President Joe Biden is sending two top administration officials to Detroit this week to meet with both sides. Biden has sided with the UAW in brief public comments, saying that the automakers have not fairly shared their record profits with workers.
An administration official said Monday that acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and senior aide Gene Sperling will not serve as mediators — they won’t be at the bargaining table — but are going to Detroit “to help support the negotiations in any way the parties feel is constructive.” The official was not authorized to discuss private discussions and spoke anonymously.
UAW President Shawn Fain on Sunday shot down an offer by Stellantis — which owns Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and RAM, along with major foreign brands including Citroën, Peugeot and Maserati — to hike its worker’ wages by 21% over four years.
Ford and GM have also each offered a roughly 20% pay bump. The union is asking for a 36% hike over a four-year contract.
The union also wants the Big Three automakers to eliminate their two-tier wage model, which results in many workers earning less than the average wage of $32 an hour; offer defined benefit pensions to all employees; limit the the use of temporary workers; offer a four-day workweek; and provide more job protections, including the right to strike over plant closings.
“Our demands are just,” Fain said on “Face the Nation.” “We’re asking for our fair share in this economy and the fruits of our labor.”
Rather than launching an all-out strike of its 146,000 members, the union opted to target three factories a plan that could make the union’s $825 million strike fund last longer. Workers walked out of a GM plant in Wentzville, Missouri, a Ford plant near Detroit, and a Stellantis factory in Toledo, Ohio, that produces Jeeps.
A key feature of the UAW strategy is the threat of escalating the strike if the union is unhappy with the pace of bargaining. On Friday, Fain said more factories could be targeted: “It could be in a day, it could be in a week.”
Strategically, targeting three factories “certainly created more uncertainty,” Harry Katz, the Jack Sheinkman Professor of Collective Bargaining at Cornell University, told CBS News, adding that Fain is signaling that “he’s a tough, militant guy that’s not going to agree to concessions.”
The UAW “will get a strong agreement — it’s a question of how and when they reach a compromise,” Katz predicted.
Joe Burrow “tweaked” his calf injury during the Cincinnati Bengals’ 27-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday; the Bengals have started 0-2 for a second successive NFL campaign; Burrow also vows to get wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase more involved with offense
Last Updated: 17/09/23 11:54pm
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Highlights of the Baltimore Ravens against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week Two of the NFL season.
Highlights of the Baltimore Ravens against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week Two of the NFL season.
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has admitted his calf injury could continue to be a problem throughout the NFL season, after aggravating the issue during Sunday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Burrow limped off the field late in the 27-24 loss that dropped the Bengals to 0-2 for the season, and afterwards confirmed that he had “just tweaked it a little bit again.”
Having missed most of the pre-season with the issue, Burrow finished 27-41 for 222 yards and two touchdowns, after passing for just 82 in last weekend’s season-opening loss to Cleveland.
“We’re going to have to wait and see,” Burrow said after the game.
“I’m not sure how it’s going to feel the next couple of days. It’s pretty sore right now, but no telling how it’s going to fell, so I think we’re going to take it day by day.
Joe Burrow’s Cincinnati Bengals have lost their first two games of the NFL season
“We’ll give it a couple of nights, a couple of sleeps, and we’ll see, we’ll go from there.
“Whenever you have these kind of things, it’s always ongoing, it’s always something that you’re managing. I don’t know how I’m going to feel the next couple of days, we’ll have to wait and see.”
Asked whether he expects the injury to be something he needs to continue to manage throughout the campaign, Burrow added: “I don’t know. It’s tough to tell, tough to look into the future and see that.
“I’m doing everything I can to get healthy and get that thing the way I need it to so I can go out and perform the way I need to, to win, we’ll see.”
Burrow ‘still confident’ | ‘We need to get Chase involved’
The Bengals recovered from an 0-2 start last season to finish AFC North champions with a 12-4 record, and Burrow insists the team are capable of producing a similar turnaround.
The 26-year-old old has pinpointed getting off to quicker starts as a key factor in enabling the team’s offense to flourish.
“When your quarterback misses camp, it’s tough to start fast. It’s not an ideal situation,” Burrow said.
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Cincinnati Bengals rookie wide receiver Charlie Jones rushes for an 80-yard punt return touchdown.
Cincinnati Bengals rookie wide receiver Charlie Jones rushes for an 80-yard punt return touchdown.
“I’m still confident. I feel really confident in all the guys we have that in that room.
“We always want to start fast. Teams play us soft, keep everything in front.
“I think we did a good job of taking what they gave us today, but if you start fast, teams think twice about playing that way, so we’ve got to start fast.”
Along with Burrow, Bengals’ star receiver Ja’Marr Chase has made an underwhelming start to the season, hauling in just five receptions in each game, without scoring a touchdown.
Ja’Marr Chase has had a disappointing start to the campaign
Both of Burrow’s touchdown throws on Sunday went to his usual secondary option Tee Higgins, and the quarterback has admitted he needs to do more increase Chase’s output.
“I think we threw him (Chase) a couple today, we’ll go watch the film and check it out,” Burrow said. “It’s tough to tell from just sitting here and not having watched the tape. We’ll go back and re-evaluate that.
“We need to get him involved, he’s our best player on offense, so we need to find a way to get him off.”
Burrow will have extra time to recover for the Bengals Week Three fixture, which is a Monday Night Football clash with the Los Angeles, live on Sky Sports at 1:15am in the early hours of Tuesday, September 26.
Members of the United Auto Workers union hold a rally and practice picket near a Stellantis plant in Detroit, Aug. 23, 2023.
Michael Wayland / CNBC
DETROIT – Thousands of members of the United Auto Workers went on strike at three U.S. assembly plants of General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, after the union and the automakers failed to reach a deal on a new labor contract Thursday night.
“The UAW Stand Up Strike begins at all three of the Big Three,” the union said in a post on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, just after midnight Friday.
The facilities are GM’s midsize truck and full-size van plant in Wentzville, Missouri; Ford’s Ranger midsize pickup and Bronco SUV plant in Wayne, Michigan; and Stellantis’ Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator plant in Toledo, Ohio. For Ford, UAW President Shawn Fain said only workers in paint and final assembly will be on strike.
“We got to do what we got to do to get our share of economic and social justice in this this strike,” Fain said outside the Ford facility in Wayne, minutes after the strike began. “We’re going to be out here until we get our share of economic justice. And it doesn’t matter how long it takes.”
The selected plants produce highly profitable vehicles for the automakers that largely continue to be in high-demand. About 12,700 workers – 5,800 at Stellantis, 3,600 at GM and 3,300 at Ford – will be on strike at the plants in total, the union said. The UAW represents about 146,000 workers across Ford, GM and Stellantis.
UAW President Shawn Fain, center, talks to reporters as union members strike outside a Ford plant in Wayne, Michigan, Sept. 15, 2023.
CNBC | Michael Wayland
“If they come to the pump and they take care of their workers, we’ll be back to work,” Fain said early Friday, referring to the automakers. “But if they don’t, we’ll keep amping it up.”
The union selected the plants as part of targeted strike plans initially announced Wednesday night by Fain, who has unconventionally been negotiating with all three automakers at once and has been reluctant to compromise much on the union’s demands.
“For the first time in our history, we will strike all three of the ‘Big Three’ at once,” Fain said just after 10 p.m. Thursday in live remarks streamed on Facebook and YouTube. “We are using a new strategy, the ‘stand-up’ strike. We will call on select facilities, locals or units to stand up and go on strike.”
Fain has referred to the union’s plans as a “stand-up strike,” a nod to historic “sit-down” strikes by the UAW in the 1930s.
Key proposals from the union have included 40% hourly pay increases, a reduced 32-hour work week, a shift back to traditional pensions, the elimination of compensation tiers and a restoration of cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), among other items on the table including enhanced retiree benefits and enhanced vacation and family leave benefits.
By late Thursday, it was clear there wouldn’t be a deal, even as President Joe Biden got involved. The White House said Biden, who boasts of his blue collar background and support for organized labor, talked with Fain and the leaders of the Detroit automakers.
Ford, in a statement Thursday night, said the UAW presented its “first substantive counterproposal” to four of the company’s offers, but it “showed little movement from the union’s initial demands.”
“If implemented, the proposal would more than double Ford’s current UAW-related labor costs, which are already significantly higher than the labor costs of Tesla, Toyota and other foreign-owned automakers in the United States that utilize non-union-represented labor,” Ford said. “The union made clear that unless we agreed to its unsustainable terms, it plans a work stoppage at 11:59 p.m. eastern.”
The automakers have made record proposals that address some of the UAW’s ambitious demands but not all of them. Specifically, the companies have offered wage increases of roughly 20%, COLA, altered profit-sharing bonuses; and enhanced vacation and family leave enhancements that the union has found inadequate.
Targeted strikes typically focus on key plants that can then cause other plants to cease production due to a lack of parts. They are not unprecedented, but the way Fain plans to conduct the work stoppages is not typical. They include initiating targeted strikes at select plants and then potentially increasing the number of strikes based on the status of the negotiations. Selecting assembly plants for such strikes is also unique.
The deadline is Thursday at 11:59 p.m. More than 100,000 members of the United Auto Workers, the biggest auto union in America, will find out whether they’ve won anything close to the four-year contract with a 46% wage bump they’ve been demanding, or whether they will be launching a historic strike. Detroit’s Big Three automakers—Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, the successor to Chrysler—might be forced to shutter factories just as the industry struggles to rebound from the pandemic.
Joe Biden has a lot at stake too. A ten-day strike could cost the economy an estimated $5 billion. But the ramifications for the president extend far beyond the particulars of how the immediate negotiations play out. Biden, who recently declared himself “the most pro-union president in American history,” has been lining up the support of major labor unions for his 2024 reelection campaign—with the glaring exception of the UAW, which has pointedly withheld an endorsement. When Biden, over Labor Day weekend, said he didn’t think a strike would happen, the UAW’s new president, Shawn Fain, threw a brushback pitch. “I think a strike can reaffirm to him where the working class people in this country stand. And, you know, it’s time for politicians in this country to pick a side,” Fain told CNBC. “Either you stand for a billionaire class where everybody else gets left behind, or you stand for the working class.”
A Democratic operative close to the issue tells me that Fain’s forceful flexing of leverage caught the Biden team somewhat off guard. The president has tried to walk a tricky line when it comes to the auto industry: Two of his prized legislative achievements—2021’s infrastructure bill and 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act—included hefty financial incentives for companies that invest in electric-vehicle plants. That angered the auto unions because fewer workers are needed to build EVs than traditional cars, and because most of the batteries needed for EVs are manufactured either overseas or in non-union American factories.
The administration tried playing catch-up in August, announcing $15.5 billion in funding and loans, the bulk of the money targeted at converting existing auto plants to EV facilities and retraining union workers. As you might expect, his presumed 2024 Republican challenger is trying to make mischief. “Biden’s Electric Vehicle mandate will murder the U.S. auto industry,” the Trump campaign claimed last week, “and kill countless union autoworker jobs forever.”
The dealmaking in Detroit is only one part of a wider struggle between workers, industry, and Washington politicians as technology reshapes the economy. Much like EVs, artificial intelligence is also a major point of contention—but in Hollywood, where studios and striking writers and actors have been locked in a months-long standstill. “The question is, Who is going to have the balance of power? Who is going to have control over these things and make money from them?” says Alex Colvin, the dean of Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. “This is a critical period.”
For political alliances as well. Democrats have spent years chasing white working-class voters, mostly in vain. In 2020, Biden won back a crucial share of them in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Union membership rates in states like these remain at a historic low, but there are signs of a shift in momentum, with organizing efforts at Amazon warehouses and Starbucks stores as well as behind the Uber and Lyft wheels. Not to mention: the economic and racial mixture of unions has also grown more diverse. How Biden navigates all of these labor currents will have a big impact on what are likely to be close races in 2024 battleground states.
“We’re clearly seeing an upsurge of worker activity with an understanding that technology, whether it’s AI or other impacts on their workplace, is changing their leverage with employers,” says Neal Kwatra, a Democratic strategist who has worked with both labor unions and elected officials. “There are definitely some Democratic elected officials around the country who are pro-worker, who are pro-union, who are finding ways to be concretely and substantively helpful to these workers’ struggles. But I do not think the party as a whole understands the moment that we are in.”
One Democrat who clearly gets it is Elissa Slotkin. “What I’ve said to my friends and supporters in labor is, if we don’t use this moment, shame on us. You’re seeing that with UAW right now,” says the Michigan congresswoman, who is running to become one of Michigan’s US senators. “We’ve got to make sure that people at these new [EV] factories are paid a living wage. That’s what just went on in Lordstown—they unionized and they’re leveraging that affiliation for more money, more benefits. We have to get that right. But in terms of who is supporting policies that are pro-union, there is only one party doing that. I know Donald Trump has made electric vehicles his new ‘woke’ culture war. Those vehicles are going to be made. And I am always going to pick Team America over Team China making those damn vehicles.”
In the past year Biden has dodged three labor bullets—standoffs at UPS, West Coast ports, and in the freight railroad industry, all of which could have blown holes in the economy, ended in agreements, not strikes. Maybe he’ll get lucky again in Detroit tonight. Earning the votes of union members next year, though, is still going to take a lot more than luck.
Autoworkers in Detroit are planning to walk off the job Friday if their union leaders can’t agree on a new labor contract with Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said during a Facebook Live event late Wednesday that members will use a so-called “stand up” strike strategy in which employees “at a limited number of targeted locations” will be ready to leave their posts starting at midnight ahead of Friday morning. The walkouts will happen at assembly plants and parts distribution centers across the Big Three automakers, he said.
“Then, based on what’s happening in bargaining, we’re going to announce more locals that are going to bw called to stand up and strike,” Fain said. “These locals will join others that are already on strike, so that our strike at each company will continue to grow over time.”
Fain said more employees will strike if the Big Three stall the negotiations or continue to send “insulting offers” that don’t meet union members’ requests.
If both sides fail to ink a new deal, it would mark the first UAW strike since auto workers walked out on GM in 2019 and culminate in the nation’s largest strike by active employees in 25 years. The strike could cause a surge in car prices, result in $5.6 billion in economic losses for the automakers, according to one forecast and reduce the nation’s GDP by as much as 0.3%, according to Oxford Economics.
What are their demands?
At the top of UAW’s list of demands are hefty pay raises for members.
The UAW began this week asking for a 46% pay raise over four years. However, the union has backed off that number and is now asking for a 36% wage increase, said Garrett Nelson, an automotive analyst for CFRA Research. That would play out as an 18% immediate raise followed by annual increases of 4% or 5% for the remainder of the contract, Nelson said in a research note Tuesday.
Union demands also include pension benefits for all employees; limiting the use of temporary workers; more paid time off, including a four-day workweek; and more job protections, including the right to strike over plant closings.
The UAW also wants the two-tiered pay system present at all three companies eliminated because members say it unfairly reduces some of their colleagues to second-class workers. Higher tier workers — anyone who joined the company before 2007 — make roughly $33 an hour while anyone who joined after that year is part of the lower tier and make around $17 an hour. Lower tier employees also don’t receive defined benefit pensions and their health benefits are less generous.
“Most generous offer in 80 years”
The Big Three haven’t been willing to fully meet union demands, but said they’ve made reasonable counteroffers and are willing to negotiate further. The companies argue that they’re under tremendous pressure to keep costs and car prices low in order to compete with Tesla and overseas automakers.
Ford Motor CEO Jim Farley said earlier this week that the company offered UAW members pay increases, elimination of tiers, inflation protection, five weeks of vacation, 17 paid holidays and bigger contributions for retirement — a package he described as the “most generous offer in 80 years.” Farley said Ford made four offers in total but hasn’t heard back from the UAW since its latest offer.
“It’s hard to negotiate a contract when there’s no one to negotiate with,” he said Wednesday night. “It was fully competitive with all of the UAW-negotiated settlements, sometimes after strikes, with other industrial companies and we heard nothing.”
Stellantis said it’s also waiting on the UAW to respond to its latest offer.
“Our focus remains on bargaining in good faith to have a tentative agreement on the table before tomorrow’s deadline,” Tobin Williams, senior vice president of human resources, said in a letter to employees Wednesday. “The future for our represented employees and their families deserves nothing less.”
Ford Motor CEO Jim Farley said earlier this week that the company offered UAW members the “most generous offer in 80 years,” but hasn’t heard back from the union.
Paul Sancya/AP
Adam Hersh, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, said the Big Three can afford to pay workers more. In a blog post Tuesday, Hersh noted that the Big Three saw combined profits of $250 billion between 2013 to 2022 and expect to bring in more than $32 billion in additional profits for 2023. Hersh said in the post that the Big Three is arguing that paying workers more would jeopardize their efforts in producing more electric vehicles.
“Despite all the company tricks, there is more than enough money for them to make EV investments, to pay their workers a fair share, and to maintain healthy profits,” Hersh wrote in the post.
Khristopher J. Brooks is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering business, consumer and financial stories that range from economic inequality and housing issues to bankruptcies and the business of sports.
The United Auto Workers union is poised to strike if a deal isn’t reached with Detroit’s Big Three automakers by Thursday night. Al Root, senior writer at Barron’s, joined CBS News to discuss how far apart both sides are and what the logistics of a strike for UAW could be.
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The clock is ticking for Detroit’s Big Three automakers to ink a new labor contract and avoid a work stoppage that could cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars.
Ford, General Motors and Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler) have until 11:59 on Thursday to reach an agreement or face a potential strike by more than 140,000 members of the United Auto Workers union. The labor negotiations come as car manufacturers are investing billions of dollars to produce electric and hybrid vehicles, a vital market for the companies.
Topping auto workers’ demands is a 46% pay raise over four years. Full-time assembly plant workers at Ford and GM currently make $32.32 an hour, while part-timers earn about $17 an hour. At Stellantis, full-time employees earn $31.77 an hour and part-time workers make almost $16 an hour.
Automakers can afford pay raises because each of them has recorded hefty profits this year, UAW President Shawn Fain said.
“After a decade of hard work by our members, they’ve had massive profits and continued massive profits — $21 billion in the first six months of this year between the Big Three,” he told told reporters in Detroit last week. “Our workers deserve their share of equity in this and they’re not getting it.”
Although a sharp pay hike would benefit workers, some experts think it could lead to higher prices for electric vehicles.
“The big issue for GM and Ford as well as investors is if anywhere near a 40% wage increase gets approved,” analysts with Wedbush Securities said in a report this week “This will be a major headwind on the cost front and ultimately in some way be passed down to the consumer and through EV prices.”
Perhaps most important to the union is that it be allowed to represent workers at 10 electric vehicle battery factories, most of which are being built by joint ventures between automakers and South Korean battery makers. The union wants those plants to receive top UAW wages.
Aside from pay, the union also wants management to limit the use of temporary workers and to impose forced overtime. UAW members said they’re looking for more time off, including a four-day workweek, and are asking for additional job protections, including the right to strike over plant closings.
So far, the automakers’ latest counteroffers include a much more modest wage hike. Stellantis has offered a 14.5% pay bump over four years.Ford and GM have offered roughly 10% raises for its employees over four years. UAW leaders have called the proposals unfair and disappointing.
The UAW and automakers continued their negotiations Tuesday, but for now the sides remain far apart on wages and the working conditions at EV plants, said Benjamin Salisbury, an analyst at Height Securities.
“While the continued exchange of counterproposals between the union and the automakers shows progress, it does not eliminate the risk of a strike,” Salisbury said Tuesday in an investors’ note.
Fain told CNN on Monday that negotiations are progressing but that both sides are divided on cost of living allowances and job security.
“Our members are being left behind not just with the transition to EV, but just with product placement, retirement security,” he said. “There’s a lot of issues feeding into this.”
How a strike could impact car buyers and the economy
The average new vehicle in the U.S. costs $48,451, according to August data from Kelley Blue Book. A UAW strike that lasts two weeks could push up prices for new vehicle by 2%, automotive consulting firm J.D. Power told Reuters.
That’s because a worker walkout would choke production for new Ford, GM and Stellantis models. With sudden uncertainty on when new cars would arrive on their lots, car dealerships would likely raise the sticker price for their existing inventory.
At the end of August, the three automakers collectively had enough vehicles to last for 70 days. After that, they would run short. Buyers who need vehicles would likely go to nonunion competitors, who would be able to charge them more.
“A work stoppage of three weeks or more would quickly drain the excess supply, raising vehicle prices and pushing more sales to non-union brands,” said Sam Fiorani, an analyst with consulting firm AutoForecast Solutions.
Auto production at the Big Three could fall by 150,000 vehicles per week in North America, and prices would climb soon after, said Garrett Nelson, an automotive analyst at CFRA Research.
For the U.S. as a whole, reduced auto production resulting from a UAW strike affecting the Big Three would reduce economic growth by up to 0.1 percentage points for each week it lasted, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a report. “Auto production would likely fall sharply — we assume to roughly zero — at any company impacted by a strike,” they wrote.
Unions have stepped up their activity
The UAW’s contentious talks with Detroit automakers comes as a large swath of unionized workers in a range of industries pushes for better pay and working conditions. Organized labor groups have been flexing their muscles and winning enhanced contracts.
So far this year, 247 strikes have occurred involving 341,000 workers — the most since Cornell University began tracking strikes in 2021, though still well below the numbers during the 1970s and 1980s.
“With the recent UPS union deal sealed, this puts more pressure on the UAW leadership to deliver a big win,” Wedbush analysts said.
Khristopher J. Brooks is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering business, consumer and financial stories that range from economic inequality and housing issues to bankruptcies and the business of sports.
Travis Kelce missed Kansas City Chiefs’ defeat to Detroit Lions in NFL season opener but is making progress ahead of Sunday’s clash with Jacksonville Jaguars, live on Sky Sports; Chiefs head coach Andy Reid says team “will work things out” after loss in Week One
Last Updated: 11/09/23 9:59pm
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is making progress, says head coach Andy Reid
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce could return for his team’s game against Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
Kelce hyperextended his knee in training last week and missed the reigning Super Bowl champions’ 21-20 defeat to Detroit Lions but head coach Andy Reid says the 33-year-old’s fitness is improving.
Reid said: “Travis is getting better. We’ll see how he does the rest of today or tomorrow and we’ll go from there.”
In Kelce’s absence against Lions, backup tight ends Noah Gray and Blake Bell combined to catch five passes for 43 yards.
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Highlights of the Detroit Lions’ win over Kansas City Chiefs during Week One of the NFL season.
Highlights of the Detroit Lions’ win over Kansas City Chiefs during Week One of the NFL season.
Kadarius Toney, meanwhile, had several of the eight drops by Kansas receivers.
Reid added: “We’ll get the receiving things taken care of. I feel good about the receivers we have.
“We are not normally guys that drop the ball but we did and we have to fix it. I think there is talent that will just keep improving as they continue to play. I have seen them do it before. I think we’ll get that worked out.
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“We’ve all got to do better. That’s the thing I took out of this. Whether it’s coaching, it’s playing, the O-line, the D-line – we can all take something out of this game and get better at it.
“There were spurts of good and there were spurts of not-so good, and we were in position to win the game. Normally we do that and we did not.”
Chiefs’ game with Jaguars is live on Sky Sports Action from 5pm on Sunday, with coverage also on Sky Sports Main Event from 7pm
Cooper Kupp injured his hamstring at the beginning of August in training camp and has since aggravated it; despite seeing a specialist for treatment he was unable to recuperate sufficiently and will not play for at least another month
Last Updated: 09/09/23 9:26pm
The Los Angeles Rams’ star receiver Cooper Kupp will miss the team’s first four games of the new NFL season after being placed on the injured reserve list.
Kupp will now be sidelined until at least Week Five, when the Rams host Philadelphia on October 8.
The Rams also put new tight end Hunter Long on injured reserve on Saturday, just one day before their season opener in Seattle against the Seahawks.
Kupp injured his hamstring August 1 in training camp, and he aggravated the injury late last month. The Super Bowl 56 MVP got treatment and saw a specialist in Minnesota in recent days but didn’t improve enough to play.
Kupp also missed the final eight games of last season with an ankle injury. He won the triple crown of receiving in 2021 and was named the AP’s NFL Offensive Player of the Year before leading the Rams to their Super Bowl victory over Cincinnati.
The Rams also signed kicker Brett Maher and quarterback Brett Rypien from their practice squad ahead of their trip to Seattle to face the Seahawks. Rypien will be the backup to Matthew Stafford in the absence of Stetson Bennett, who wasn’t put on injured reserve despite a shoulder problem which is likely to prevent him from suiting up in Seattle.
Los Angeles also signed linebacker Troy Reeder from its practice squad, ahead of the trip to Lumen Field.
Week One of the 2023 NFL season continues Sunday as the San Francisco 49ers visit the Steelers, with coverage from 4.30pm ahead of kickoff at 6pm, followed by the Dolphins at Chargers at 9.25pm. Stream with NOW.
Ndamukong Suh is joining the Sky Sports NFL coverage later this season!
Super Bowl-winning defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh will join the Sky Sports NFL coverage for four weeks during the 2023 season.
The five-time Pro Bowler and three-time first-team All-Pro brings with him 13 seasons worth of expert knowledge, during which he has recorded 600 tackles and 71.5 sacks while winning one Championship ring across spells with five teams since being drafted by the Detroit Lions as the No 2 overall pick in 2010.
Suh arrives on the back of featuring in the Philadelphia Eagles team that reached Super Bowl LVII, where Nick Sirianni’s side were beaten by the Kansas City Chiefs.
He previously starred in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers team, led by Tom Brady, that toppled Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to win Super Bowl LV at the end of the 2020 season, having made the first of his three Super Bowl appearances with the Los Angeles Rams team that came up short against the New England Patriots in 2018/19.
The former Defensive Rookie of the Year is now set to bring his insight to your screens as part of Sky Sports NFL’s Sunday coverage in a four-week stint starting from October 1.
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Super Bowl-winning defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh discusses Lions head coach Dan Campbell and explains why their fans deserve a Championship run.
Super Bowl-winning defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh discusses Lions head coach Dan Campbell and explains why their fans deserve a Championship run.
“You can expect a lot of excitement, great insights on football, especially from somebody who’s been doing it for 13 years plus and potentially 14 years,” Suh told Sky Sports.
“We’ll see how things pan out after my amazing time over in the UK with you guys so just looking to have a lot of fun and give great insights.
“I’ve explored the UK a lot. I think this will be probably my seventh or eighth time over. I’m looking forward to getting to my favourite restaurant in London, and then obviously to go check out some great football as you guys call it over there. I grew up playing since I was three and love watching the Premier League.
“UK fans, I’m excited to spend time with you guys. We’re gonna have lots of fun, lots of exclusive insights, and look to share many of those with you, not only in the studio, but also in person and around the game. So tune in and then let’s enjoy!”
The key to winning a Super Bowl…
The race to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas is on, with Suh able to vouch for the prime ingredients to any Championship contender.
“Outside of the little bit of luck, a lot of hard work,” he says. “Along with consistency and a team coming together, you’ve been able to see teams, dynasties that have core members for long periods of time, but then you’ve been on the flipside to see a team just put it together at the right time, which I think when you look at my run with Tampa Bay and winning a Super Bowl.
“We had an amazing group of guys on defense, amazing group of guys on offense and we all put it together collectively as a team at the right time. Because we went through plenty of struggles throughout that season and it was not smooth sailing like it was when I was in Los Angeles.
“My first Super Bowl, when I went to it was smooth sailing outside of one blemish during the regular season against the Saints and then maybe a couple towards the end of the year. But overall it’s like we’re just running over most of the NFC, even the league when we got into the playoffs, and then just at the very end, we couldn’t put it together to cement the deal. But I think there’s a combination of ways you get to this to the Super Bowl but it always comes down to hard work.”
The winning feeling
Suh finally captured his first Super Bowl ring a decade after entering the league, the wait only making the feeling of eventual victory even sweeter.
“That emotion was pure joy and excitement,” he recalls. “It was probably one of the best years of my life, if not the best year of my life. One not only winning a Super Bowl but bringing my kids in, my twin boys into the world as champions.
“And I’ve always said this, my wife is been a huge part of my success. She first moved in when I was living in Los Angeles, and that was my first year to get to a Super Bowl. Unfortunately, we couldn’t win it, but I was in the NFC Championship Game and then ever since then have been vying for one and been in three of the last six Super Bowls.
“She’s a big part of my corner, so you’ve got to have a strong woman behind every great man.”
Suh is coming to the Sky Sports studio!
Can Suh’s Lions surprise the NFL?
Suh’s introduction coincides with a season in which his former team Detroit have been touted as one of the league’s potential surprise packages after a sparkling end to the 2022 campaign.
“I think the biggest story I’m excited to watch and see is the city of Detroit and the Lions,” said Suh. “I’m excited to see them hopefully get back to an elite level like we were when I was playing there. We had some great seasons but 2014 especially.
“Aidan Hutchinson. Jared Goff, who I played with, and then obviously I wish the best for Dan Campbell, who was my interim head coach in Miami and spent some good time with him. Always respected him and and loved playing for him and then also against him when he was at the Saints.
“He (Campbell) is a ball of energy, just full non-stop bouncing off the walls. Great energy guy. There’s no quiet time around him from recollection. But a coach that you love to play for. Always brings excitement to the game, even through tough times. He finds a way to be very positive and push people, which I’ve always appreciated about him.”
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Peter Schrager has predicted that Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs will be this season’s Rookie of the Year
Peter Schrager has predicted that Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs will be this season’s Rookie of the Year
Having spent five seasons with Detroit from 2010-2014, the former Nebraska Cornhusker is eager to see Lions fans treated to another Super Bowl run.
“There’s no question you wanna see about some loyal fans,” he added.
“Detroit has some of the most loyal fans and normally the only fans that I would pick over them as loyal fans would be the University of Nebraska, which are obviously the best fans in college football!
“I definitely believe that city is deserving of a Super Bowl, and I wish I could be there. Part of something of that nature because I know it would be amazing. I got so much joy and support from them and I love that city deeply.”
Watch the 49ers at Steelers live on Sky Sports NFL on Sunday, with coverage beginning from 4.30pm ahead of kickoff at 6pm, followed by the Dolphins at Chargers at 9.25pm. Stream with NOW.
The head of the United Auto Workers warned Wednesday that the union plans to go on strike against any Detroit automaker that hasn’t reached a new agreement by the time contracts expire next week.
“That’s the plan,” President Shawn Fain responded when asked if the union would strike any of the companies that haven’t reached a tentative deal by the time their national contracts end.
A strike against all three major automakers — General Motors, Stellantis and Ford — could cause damage not only to the industry as a whole but also to the Midwest and even national economy, depending on how long it lasted. The auto industry accounts for about 3% of the nation’s economic output. A prolonged strike could also lead eventually to higher vehicle prices.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Fain left open the possibility of avoiding a strike. He acknowledged, more explicitly than he has before, that the union will have to give up some of its demands to reach agreements. Contracts with the three companies will all expire at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 14.
“There’s a lot of back and forth in bargaining,” he said, “and naturally, when you go into bargaining, you don’t always get everything you demand. Our workers have high expectations. We made a lot of sacrifices going back to the economic recession.”
Still time to strike a deal
In the interview, Fain did report some progress in the negotiations, saying the union will meet Thursday with GM to hear the company’s response to the UAW’s economic demands. In addition, discussions are under way with Ford on wages and benefits. Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, has yet to make a counteroffer on wage and benefit demands, he said.
Last week, the union filed charges of unfair labor practices against Stellantis and GM, and it said Ford’s economic offer fell far short of its demands.
Marick Masters, a business professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, said he thought Fain’s latest remarks suggest “that he is opening up to the realities of bargaining” as the strike deadline nears.
“As you get close to the deadline,” Masters said, “you begin to realize the importance of trying to resolve a problem rather than make a point. Strikes are painful, especially for workers, and also for companies.”
Fain’s willingness to acknowledge publicly that he isn’t going to achieve all the union’s demands shows there is more flexibility in his approach than previously thought, Masters said.
Some signs of movement in the negotiations have emerged, raising the possibility, Masters said, that an agreement might be reached with one automaker that would set the pattern for the others.
“I think if they can avoid having to go out on strike and the pain that occurs and still get a very good bargain, I think they’ll be better off,” he said.
The union’s demands include 46% across-the-board pay raises, a 32-hour week with 40 hours of pay, restoration of traditional pensions for new hires, union representation of workers at new battery plants and a restoration of traditional pensions. Top-scale UAW assembly plant workers make about $32 an hour, plus annual profit sharing checks.
“Wages aren’t the problem”
iIn his remarks to the AP, Fain argued that worker pay isn’t what has driven up vehicle prices. The average price of a new car has leaped to more than $48,000 on average, in part because of still-scarce supplies resulting from a global shortage of computer chips.
“In the last four years, the price of vehicles went up 30%,” he said. “Our wages went up 6%. There were billions of dollars in shareholder dividends. So our wages aren’t the problem.”
While saying a strike by up to 146,000 members against all three major automakers is a real possibility, Fain said the union doesn’t want to strike and would prefer to to reach new contracts with them.
A 46% pay raise. A 32-hour week with 40 hours of pay. A restoration of traditional pensions.
The demands that a more combative United Auto Workers union has pressed on General Motors, Stellantis and Ford — demands that even the UAW’s own president calls “audacious” — are edging it closer to a strike when its contract ends September 14.
The automakers, which are making billions in profits, have dismissed the UAW’s wish list. They argue that its demands are unrealistic at a time of fierce competition from Tesla and lower-wage foreign automakers as the world shifts from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles. The wide gulf between the sides could mean a strike against one or more of the automakers, which could send already-inflated vehicle prices even higher.
“Our employers only value one thing, profit; they do not value us. And the only way the working class advances is if we stand together,” Shawn Fain, the pugnacious new leader of the UAW, said in a Facebook Live Friday morning.
A potential strike by 146,000 UAW members comes against the backdrop of increasingly emboldened U.S. unions of all kinds. The number of strikes and threatened strikes is growing, involving Hollywood actors and writers, sizable settlements with railroads and major concessions by corporate giants like UPS.
Fain has characterized the contract talks with Detroit’s automakers as a form of war between billionaires and ordinary middle-class workers. Last month, in an act of showmanship during the Facebook Live event, Fain condemned a contract proposal from Stellantis as “trash” — and tossed a copy of it into a wastebasket, “where it belongs,” he said.
Shawn Fain, the pugnacious new leader of the UAW, last month, condemned a contract proposal from Stellantis as “trash” — and tossed a copy of it into a wastebasket, “where it belongs,” he said.
JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images
Robust profit-makers
Over the past decade, the Detroit Three have emerged as robust profit-makers. They’ve collectively posted net income of $164 billion over the past decade, $20 billion of it this year. The CEOs of all three major automakers earn multiple millions in annual compensation.
Speaking last month to Ford workers at a plant in Louisville, Kentucky, Fain complained about one standard for the corporate class and another for ordinary workers.
“They get out-of-control salaries,” he said. “They get pensions they don’t even need. They get top-rate health care. They work whatever schedule they want. The majority of our members do not get a pension nowadays. It’s crazy. We get substandard health care. We don’t get to work remotely.”
UAW members have voted overwhelmingly to authorize its leaders to call a strike. So, too, have Canadian auto workers, whose contracts ends four days later and who have designated Ford as their target.
The UAW hasn’t said whether it will select one target automaker. It could strike all three, though doing so could deplete the union’s strike fund in under three months.
On the other hand, if a strike lasted even just 10 days, it would cost the three automakers nearly a billion dollars, the Anderson Economic Group has calculated. During a 40-day UAW strike in 2019, GM alone lost $3.6 billion.
Union accuses Stellantis, GM of unfair labor practices
Last week, the union filed charges of unfair labor practices against Stellantis and GM, which it said have yet to offer counterproposals. As for Ford, Fain asserted that its response, by rejecting most of the union’s demands, “insults our very worth.”
All three automakers have countered that the union’s charges are baseless and that they’re seeking a fair deal that would allow them to invest in the future.
Marick Masters, a business professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, suggested that the strong U.S. job market and the companies’ outsize profits have given Fain leverage in negotiations. In addition, he noted, the automakers are poised to release a slew of new electric vehicles that would be delayed by a strike. And they have only a limited supply of vehicles to withstand a prolonged walkout.
“They are vulnerable,” Masters said.
“The question really is,” he said, “are the parties willing to move on some of these things at the table? That hasn’t been evident yet.”
Fain, who won the UAW’s presidency this spring in the first direct election by members, has set expectations high. He has assured the workers that they can achieve significant gains if they’re willing to walk picket lines.
Yet even Fain has described the union’s proposals as “audacious” in demanding the restoration of traditional defined-benefit pensions for new hires; an end to tiers of wages; pension increases for retirees; and — perhaps most audaciously — a 32-hour week for 40 hours of pay.
Currently, UAW workers who were hired after 2007 don’t receive defined benefit pensions. Their health benefits are less generous, too. For years, the union gave up general pay raises and lost cost-of-living wage increases to help the companies control costs. Though top-scale assembly workers earn $32.32 an hour, temporary workers start at just under $17. Still, full-time workers have received profit-sharing checks ranging this year from $9,716 at Ford to $14,760 at Stellantis.
Chris Lindsey, a union member who builds Ford trucks at a Louisville plant, argues that workers deserve a larger share of Ford’s sizable profits.
“We keep giving up, but nothing in return,” Lindsey said. “We just want something fair.”
Perhaps the biggest issue blocking a contract agreement is union representation at 10 EV battery plants that the companies have proposed. Most of these plants are joint ventures with South Korean battery makers, which want to pay less.
“These battery workers deserve the same wage and salary standards that generations of auto workers have fought for,” Fain told members.
The union fears that because EVs are simpler to build, with fewer moving parts, fewer workers will be needed to assemble them. In addition, workers at combustion engine and transmission plants will likely lose jobs in the transition; they’ll need a place to go.
Fain, a 54-year-old electrician who came out of a Chrysler factory in Kokomo, Indiana, is among several labor leaders across the economy who have been escalating their demands and flexing their muscles. So far this year, 247 strikes have occurred involving 341,000 workers — the most since Cornell University began tracking strikes in 2021, though still well below the numbers during the 1970s and 1980s.
Masters suggested that the automakers wouldn’t be able to quickly replace striking workers. The tight job market, diminished interest in manufacturing jobs and comparatively modest wages would make it difficult to hire enough workers.
Some auto workers regard the UPS contract, with a $49-an-hour top wage for experienced drivers, as a benchmark for their negotiations. Others say they’re just hoping to get near that figure.
But automakers say a generous settlement would stick them with costs far above their competitors’ just as they start producing more EVs. The inability to bring Hyundai-Kia, Nissan, Volkswagen, Honda and Toyota factories into the union has weakened the UAW’s leverage, said Harry Katz, a labor professor at Cornell.
Current U.S. automakers salary: $60 an hour
If you include the value of their benefits, workers at the Detroit 3 automakers receive around $60 an hour. The corresponding figure at foreign-based automakers with U.S. factories is just $40 to $45, Katz said. Much of the disparity reflects pensions and health care.
If the Detroit companies end up with higher labor costs, they’ll pass them on to consumers, making vehicles more expensive, said Sam Fiorani, an analyst with AutoForecast Solutions, a consulting firm.
“More than half of the vehicles built in the U.S. are in nonunion plants,” he said. “So if you raise the price to build a unionized vehicle, you could price yourself out of competition with vehicles already built in North America.”
A strike of more than a couple of weeks would reduce still-tight supplies of vehicles on Detroit automakers’ dealer lots. With demand still strong, prices would rise.
The UAW’s members are “reminding management that management can’t operate those factories without a settlement,” Katz said.
Masters and Katz say there’s still time to settle without a strike. Katz predicts a settlement short of UPS numbers, possibly with 3% general pay raises plus cost-of-living adjustments, increased company contributions to 401(k) accounts for newer workers and faster transitions to top pay.
That said, Katz suggested, Fain has to back up his tough talk: “He’s got to prove himself.”
UAW President Shawn Fain addresses union members during a “Solidarity Sunday” rally on Aug. 20, 2023 in Warren, Mich.
Michael Wayland / CNBC
DETROIT – The United Auto Workers has filed unfair labor practice charges against automakers General Motors and Stellantis to the National Labor Relations Board for not bargaining with the union in good faith or a timely manner, UAW President Shawn Fain said Thursday night.
The Thursday filings followed the companies not responding to the union’s demands in a timely matter, Fain said. The union did not file a complaint against Ford Motor, as Fain said the company responded to the UAW’s demands with a counterproposal.
However, Fain heavily criticized Ford’s proposal that he said included a 9% wage increase over the four-year term of the deal; one-time lump-sum bonuses; and unlimited use of temporary workers who are paid less and don’t have the same benefits. The company also rejected “all of the” union’s job security proposals and “quality of life proposals” such as additional paid holidays and a shorter work week, Fain said.
Spokespeople with the automakers did not immediately respond for comment. The union and NLRB also did not immediately respond for additional details of the filings.
This is breaking news. Please check back for additional updates.
