Some 5,500 United Auto Workers members at 38 sites on Friday joined what’s being called a Stand Up Strike, walking off the job at all parts distribution centers across the nation at General Motors and Stellantis.
The walkout came after UAW President Shawn Fain announced in the morning that the sites would be targeted as an expansion in the union’s one-week-old action against Detroit Three automakers.
Across the various sites, workers streamed out wearing red shirts and shaking fists to a supporting soundtrack of honking horns and waves.
Tyrone Atkins, 49, of Flint, held his 4-year-old granddaughter, Eve, on the picket line outside of GM’s Swartz Creek parts facility. Peering down at her, he said, “This is her future.”
“I have two in college, my fiancée has two: This is their future,” he said. “We live paycheck to paycheck.”
In his morning announcement, Fain said the union had made good progress with Ford Motor Co. this week, but GM and Stellantis “will need some pushing.”
For that reason, he said, “At noon Eastern time today, all parts distribution centers at GM and Stellantis will be on strike. We will be everywhere from California to Massachusetts and we will keep going and keep expanding the Stand Up Strike as necessary.”
Fain said the newly striking workers stretch across 20 states and nine union regions. While there is still work to be done to reach a tentative agreement at Ford, it appeared, for now, the union is not expanding strike targets at the Dearborn-based automaker.
Who feels the pain?
The latest move is significant because the parts from these centers go to car dealerships to service and repair customers’ vehicles. The action means dealers and customers may soon struggle in the service lane.
“These are extremely profitable for GM and Stellantis primarily because if you get your vehicle serviced at a dealership, you pay full sticker price for replacement parts,” said Art Wheaton, director of Labor Studies at Cornell University. “The dealerships are already struggling to hire enough certified mechanics to fix them and now you’re telling the struggling dealership that they don’t have the parts to fix the cars either.”
Wheaton said dealers and customers will feel this pain.
“So now you have the end customer screaming at GM,” he said. “GM is trying to win the public relations war and they are losing badly.”
In a statement, GM said it has contingency plans but did not offer details.
It also could endanger Michigan’s economic future if consumers start buying imports or other nonunion brands such as Tesla and the Detroit automakers can’t compete, said Glenn Stevens, executive director of MICHauto and vice president of Automotive and Mobility Initiatives for the Detroit Regional Chamber.
“The current strike is damaging Michigan companies, communities, and our reputation,” Stevens said in a statement. “If this strike continues, and if our companies cannot compete, Michigan’s leadership position, ability to develop and attract talent, and our economy will be at risk.”
The auto industry is worth more than $300 billion annually to the state of Michigan, Stevens said.
Progress with Ford
The UAW has been negotiating separately, yet simultaneously, with General Motors, Ford and Stellantis since midsummer. The automakers have each made offers and counteroffers to the union, but no tentative agreement has been reached.
Earlier this week, Fain warned that a second wave of plants could face a strike if the automakers did not make “substantial progress” in talks by noon Friday. Fain has complained that the automakers have dragged their feet on making substantive offers since the union presented its list of “audacious” demands to them earlier this summer. He said GM and Stellantis only made serious offers after the union filed unfair labor charges against them with the National Labor Relations Board, which is currently investigating the allegations.
But Fain said in recent days, the union has made some “real progress” with Ford, but “We’re not there yet.”
Still he said, Ford’s latest offer includes:
Reinstating the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to offset increases in inflation over the life of the contract, a provision that the union lost in 2009.
Agreeing the union has a right to strike over any plant closures.
Offering two years pay and health care coverage for laid-off workers.
Agreeing to immediately convert all temporary workers with at least 90 days employment upon ratification.
Agreeing to an enhanced profit-sharing formula that would have resulted in a 13.3% increase for the average employee in payouts last year.
“I don’t have to tell you that this is an important victory,” Fain said. “All that represents serious movement on tiers, pay and job security. We want to recognize that Ford is serious about reaching a deal. At GM and Stellantis, it’s a different story.”
In a statement to the Detroit Free Press, Ford wrote: “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. Although we are making progress in some areas, we still have significant gaps to close on the key economic issues. In the end, the issues are interconnected and must work within an overall agreement that supports our mutual success.”
GM fires back at Fain
Fain also said the union has “won a serious victory” ending two wage tiers at GM’s parts distribution and component holdings facility workers. Those workers would now be on the same wage scale as assembly workers. Tier wages are when workers are paid different amounts for doing similar work. The UAW wants the same pay across all of the automakers’ facilities and jobs.
GM’s first offer was a 0% raise for those workers. But without COLA and without strong job security, those gains are not protected, the union said. But the progression to the top wage is still eight years and the union wants to shorten that and boost the top wage, currently $25 an hour, to the same as that in the assembly plants, which is closer to $33.
Stellantis has not proposed killing the sub-tier pay for its parts distribution centers, Fain said.
He said GM and Stellantis are not offering to reinstate COLA, they rejected profit-sharing improvements, job security proposals and converting temporary employees to permanent.
Stellantis responded in a statement that it had made significant counterproposals including “a very competitive offer yesterday that includes all our current full-time hourly employees earning between $80,000 and $96,000 a year by the end of the contract (a 21.4% compounded increase. … And significant product allocation that allows for workforce stability through the end of the contract,” spokeswoman Jodi Tinson said. “And yet, we still have not received a response to that offer. We look forward to the UAW leadership’s productive engagement so that we can bargain in good faith to reach an agreement that will protect the competitiveness of our company and our ability to continue providing good jobs.”
GM provided the following statement in reaction to the expanded strike: “Today’s strike escalation by the UAW’s top leadership is unnecessary. … We have contingency plans for various scenarios and are prepared to do what is best for our business, our customers, and our dealers.”
GM said it had so far presented five separate economic proposals that are “historic,” addressing employees’ demands while still allowing GM to thrive into the future. It will continue to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible, the statement said.
“The record offer we proposed on Sept. 14 recognizes the many contributions our represented team members make to our company — past, present and future,” Reuss wrote. “And it addresses, directly, what they’ve told us matters most: wage growth, job security and long-term stability.”
UAW Vice President Mike Booth wrote an op-ed in response noting that Reuss touted the wages of 85% of GM’s workforce, “What about the other 15%? We’re fighting for 100% fairness for 100% of our members.”
Fain’s invitation to join the picket line
An audience of about 50,000 tuned in to listen to Fain’s update on the UAW’s Facebook page. He thanked the workers who have been on the picket line since last week for showing “leadership, courage and creativity on the picket line.
“Reinforcements are coming. As we said for weeks, we’re not going to wait around forever for a contract from the Big Three,” Fain said. “We can and we will go all out if our national leadership thinks we can’t move. Right now, we think we can get there. Obviously, Stellantis and GM will need some pushing.”
Fain declared a strike as contract talks failed before the current contract expired at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 14. Fain announced the first wave of plants the union would strike as: Ford Michigan Assembly Plant (Final Assembly and Paint only) in Wayne where it builds the Bronco, Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio where it builds some Jeep vehicles and GM’s Wentzville Assembly where GM makes its midsize Chevrolet and GMC pickups and cargo vans.
As Fain announced the expansion Friday, he invited anyone who supports the union to join members on the picket line, “from friends and families all the way up to the president of the United States.”
President Joe Biden announced later that he plans to visit Michigan on Tuesday. Biden has been a staunch supporter of unions and their rights to collectively bargain. Last Friday, Biden said he believed automakers should provide better wages and benefits to the workers.
Free Press staff writers Phoebe Wall Howard and Todd Spangler contributed to this report.
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
