Negotiations between the parties have been ongoing since the strike broke out at the end of last week. But the tangible improvements that UAW boss Shawn Fain has called for in order not to extend the strike are conspicuous by their absence – at least in outward communication, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The employers are said to have offered 20 percent wage increases over four years and other improvements in terms and conditions. According to the automakers, the offer is the most generous that has been put forward in decades.
The union demands are for salary increases of around 35 percent, which is slightly lower than the initial demands of 40 percent.
So far, a Ford plant in the Detroit area, Stellanti’s Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio and GM’s Wentzville, Missouri plant have been affected by the strike. If you add employees affected by the lockout as a result of the strike, the total number of car workers who are not at work as a result of the conflict now amounts to 6,100 people.
Shawn Fain has so far not said which factories will be affected if the strike is extended, nor how many members will then be taken out on strike.