UAW threatens to further expand strikes without progress by Friday: reports 

The United Auto Workers (UAW) reportedly threatened to further expand strikes on Friday if significant progress is not made in talks with Detroit automakers, multiple media outlets reported. 

Negotiations continued Wednesday between the UAW and the “Big Three” automakers — General Motors (GM), Ford Motor, and Stellantis — nearly two weeks since the union authorized a strike, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a union official. 

The union official told the Journal the union would identify new strike targets at 10 a.m. Friday and begin walkouts at noon unless negotiations over the autoworkers’ contracts are made. 

The UAW’s strike expanded last Friday to include Stellantis and GM facilities at 38 locations across 28 states. Ford was not included in the expansion as talks with the union were progressing. 

UAW President Shawn Fain is slated to speak in a planned video address in a Facebook Live event on Friday at 10 a.m., where could make the announcement on an expansion, CNBC reported. 

The union did not say what action is expected on Friday, reiterating all options are on the table, according to The Associated Press (AP).

Two people with direct knowledge of the talks told AP the union was slated to meet with GM negotiators Wednesday afternoon. 

The strike began on Sept. 14, with workers from plants near St. Louis, outside Detroit and in Toledo, Ohio walking out. 

The union is asking for wage increases, cost-of-living pay raises, a 32-hour work week with 40 hours of pay, union representation at new battery plants, restoration of traditional-defined benefit pensions for new hires who currently receive only 401(k)-style retirement plans, and pension increases for retirees. 

On Tuesday, Fain said the union is “moving with all three companies still,” while noting it is “slower,” per AP. 

The strikes have so far only targeted part of the companies’ plans, with Fain planning to add more to push automakers to raise their offers. 

The strike currently involves around 12 percent of the union’s 146,000 workers, or around 18,500 people, enabling the union to preserve a strike fund that was previously worth $825 million before the strike began.

According to AP, if all of the union’s workers went on strike, the fund would run out in less than three months, without factoring in health care costs.