UAW strike expanded with walkout at Stellantis

The United Auto Workers union on Monday staged a surprise walkout of 6,800 employees at a Stellantis factory in Sterling Heights, Mich. The union has been on strike against Detroit’s top three automakers—Ford, Stellantis, and General Motors—for more than a month, seeking higher wages, fewer working hours, and some benefits. Roughly 41,000 autoworkers are now on strike across the country.

Why this particular strike expansion? The factory in Sterling Heights produces Ram 1500 full-size trucks for the company, providing significant profits. UAW President Shawn Fain recently warned companies that walk-offs could take place at any time, at any location. Previously, the union had announced strike expansions against the companies on Fridays. Stellantis was “outraged” that the strike was expanded, saying in a statement that it had improved its offer on Thursday but had not received a response from the UAW.

Dig deeper: Listen to Nick Eicher’s conversation with David Bahnsen on The World and Everything in It podcast about how the UAW’s strike started on Capitol Hill.