The next week or two could have a big impact on Michigan’s economy.
Michigan is bracing for a possible strike as negotiations race toward a September 14 deadline between the United Auto Workers and the Detroit Three automakers.
The UAW seeks higher pay, restored pensions, the end of the two-tier pay structure, and a 32-hour work week. Bridge Michigan reports that no significant progress has been made between the two sides.
Congresswoman Debbie Dingell says she thinks “very seriously” that a strike may be coming. Dingell says the next 10 days are very important, and a strike would remind the country that the auto industry “is the backbone of this country’s economy.”
The Anderson Economic Group in East Lansing estimates that a 10-day strike among all three automakers could lead to $5.6 billion in national economic loss.
4 comments
It may be a good time to reopen Studebaker. It was a great affordable vehicle. South Bend, Indiana was never the same since 1963.
My dad was UAW for 30 years…he never made a penny off of a strike; never made back the money he lost. The unions though, they supported every slacker/druggie on the payroll. If you argued against their policies though you’d get yourself and you families lives threatened. Commie thugs one and all…just like commie Dingell; a swamp creature if there ever was one; riding the coat tails of a decrepit rep husband who should have retired a decade or two before he died in office.
Let’s face facts, the” Big Three” is now Honda, Toyota and Kia.
If it wasn’t for the 25% import “chicken tax” on light trucks, the American big 3 would have gone under long ago. Compared to their competitors, the build quality is absolute crap and the unions are largely to blame for that because they protect subpar workers.