The United Auto Workers (UAW) union is “prepared at any time” to call for an expansion to its strike against the Big Three automakers, UAW President Shawn Fain said on Friday.
“We’re entering a new phase of this fight, and it demands a new approach,” Fain said in livestreamed remarks.
“We’re done waiting until Fridays to escalate our strike. Today, we’re not announcing an expansion of our strike, but we are prepared at any time to call on more locals to stand up and walk out.”
Fain’s remarks come after another 8,700 workers walked out at a Ford truck plant in Kentucky on Wednesday, bringing the total number of union members on strike to nearly 34,000.
The union said Ford had refused to negotiate further demands on wages, leading to the surprise strike at the company’s largest and most profitable facility.
“We’re not messing around, and negotiation requires both sides making movement,” Fain said, noting that the Kentucky plant generates $48,000 in revenue per minute for Ford.
“If they’re not ready to move, then we’re going to give them a push in a language they understand — dollars and cents.”
The UAW strike is approaching its second month. The union’s contract with the Big Three automakers — Ford, Stellantis, and General Motors (GM) — expired Sept. 14.
Fain initially called on workers at a small number of facilities to walk out, before expanding the strike to additional plants on the two following Fridays.
Last week, the UAW president opted not to expand the strike after securing a major victory in negotiations with GM, which committed to include battery manufacturing for electric vehicles (EVs) in its agreement with the union.
The last-minute offer from GM was the most recent in a series of down-to-the-wire negotiations ahead of the Friday announcements.
Fain accused Ford of attempting to “gam[e] the system” this week, as he announced the union’s plans to move away from the regular Friday announcements.
“Ford thought they could wait until Friday morning and then just make a better offer,” he said.
“They stopped being interested in reaching a fair deal now and only became interested in gaming our system of announcing strike expansions on Friday. They thought they figured out the so-called rules of the game, so we changed the rules.”
“When I tell all of you members to be ready to stand up, I mean it,” Fain added. “We’re not waiting until Fridays anymore. We’re not sticking to one pattern, or one system of getting these companies an extra hour or an extra day.”
Updated at 11:29 a.m.