The United Auto Workers strike against General Motors and Stellantis grew significantly on Friday as workers at more than 30 auto parts plants, including in the Chicago suburbs, joined the work stoppage.
The UAW’s strike against General Motors, Stellantis and Ford began after its contract with the companies expired at midnight on Sept. 14. At the time, 13,000 workers walked out of three assembly plants — and union leadership warned that more locations could be impacted there wasn’t significant progress in contract negotiations.
Ford was spared additional strikes Friday because the company has met some of the union’s demands during negotiations over the past week, UAW President Shawn Fain said.
On Friday, workers hit the picket lines outside the Chrysler parts distribution center in Naperville.
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"We work hard, we have members that are not equally paid," said Rhonda Bailey.
Both auto workers at the Naperville facility and the other local site include in the work stoppage, a General Motors part plant in Bolingbrook, said they have had enough.
""It's hard to buy groceries. What kind of America is this where you can’t even have a decent standard of living anymore?" said Brian Conklin.
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The UAW expanded the strike on Friday afternoon after GM and Stellantis failed to make progress in negotiations, and the union's proposals were rejected. For union members, cost of living increases, profit sharing and job security remain the top priorities.
"The feeling is just to make sure we can get this hopefully straightened out so we can all work as one team together under one wage, under one benefit," stated Josie Hernandez.
The union's president said UAW workers, including those at 38 locations across 20 states who joined strike on Friday, aren't backing down without a fight.
"Our stand up and strike strategy are designed to do one thing...win record contracts after years of record profits," Shawn Fain said.
On Friday, Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth joined striking UAW workers in Naperville and criticized major automotive manufacturers for not doing their part.
"If you’re making record profits, you need to share profits with people who made those record profits possible, that’s the people standing behind me," she said.
GM said on Friday that the strike escalation was unnecessary, while Stellantis said there was no reason to expand the strike to its parts and distribution centers.
Alan Amici, the president and CEO of the Center for Automotive Researched, stated that the strike will likely have a big impact on consumers.
"If you’re shopping for a car, I wouldn’t wait," Amici said. "On the other hand, if you have a car and it needs to be repaired, get it in right away try to get your repairs scheduled while they still have some parts available."
As for Ford, the UAW's president said progress was being made in negotiations, but an agreement wasn't reached yet. Workers at Ford's Chicago Assembly plant are on standby for a possible strike if a deal isn't made.
