Despite weeks of negotiations, the union was unable to come to an agreement over contract negotiations with General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis—known as the big three—before current contracts expired, prompting thousands of its members to walk out of three factories across the country in Missouri, Michigan, and Ohio.

The strikes are taking place at Ford’s Bronco assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan, GM’s mid-sized pickup truck assembly plant in Wentzville, Missouri, and Stellantis’s Jeep assembly plant in Toledo, Ohio.

It is unclear how long the strikes will last, however UAW—the largest union in the nation—has an $825 million strike fund that will compensate workers $500 a week while out on strike.

Video footage shared online showed some of the strikes began promptly after midnight, with dozens of workers taking to the streets and holding posters stating “end tiers” and “record profits, record contracts,” and chanting in support of the strikes and higher pay.

“This fight is our generation’s defining moment,” UAW said in a press release announcing the strike late Thursday. “Not just at the Big Three, but across the entire working class. We will stand up for ourselves. We will stand up for our families. We will stand up for our communities.”

UAW represents some 150,000 workers at General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis, however approximately 12,700 workers will be taking part in the strike, UAW President Shawn Fain said at a press conference Thursday night; 3,600 at GM, 3,300 at Ford, and 5,800 at Stellantis.

“Leading into the final hours of the strike deadline, we’ve been working hard trying to reach a deal for economic and social justice for our members. We have been firm. We are committed to winning an agreement with the big three that reflects the incredible sacrifice and contributions UAW members have made to these companies,” Mr. Fain said.

The strikes are expected to have significant business and economic implications. According to Anderson Economic Group (AEG), a work stoppage of 10 days could result in a total economic loss of more than $5 billion. The strike also has the potential to lead to higher car prices amid lower inventories, according to AEG.

Strikes Will Have ‘Wide-Ranging Consequences’

Meanwhile, the plants involved in the strikes are also critical to the three automakers’ productions. Some of their most profitable vehicles include the Ford Bronco, Jeep Wrangler, and Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck.

A full strike at each of the automakers could see losses of around $400 million to $500 million per week assuming all production was lost, Deutsche Bank has estimated.

Despite weeks of negotiations, union members and the big three have failed to reach an agreement over pay, enhanced benefits, and pensions.

The union has proposed a four-year contract with 40 percent pay increases, a reduced 32-hour work week, the elimination of compensation tiers, a restoration of cost-of-living adjustments, and the restoration of traditional pensions, among other items.

The automakers, which have all recorded record or near-record profits, have so far declined to meet that rise, instead offering 20 percent without key benefits demanded by the union, citing concerns that such pay hikes could effectively put them out of business.

Hours before the deadline passed, Ford said it had bargained “in good faith” in an effort to avoid a strike, which the company said “could have wide-ranging consequences for our business and the economy.”

The company said the last offer it submitted to the union was “historically generous, with large wage increases, cost of living adjustments, more paid time off, additional retirement contributions, and more.”

“Unfortunately, the UAW’s counterproposal tonight showed little movement from the union’s initial demands submitted Aug. 3. If implemented, the proposal would more than double Ford’s current UAW-related labor costs, which are already significantly higher than the labor costs of Tesla, Toyota, and other foreign-owned automakers in the United States that utilize non-union-represented labor,” the company said.

Ford said it remains “absolutely committed to reaching an agreement that rewards our employees and protects Ford’s ability to invest in the future as we move through industry-wide transformation.”

Union Prepared to ‘Go All Out’

General Motors said it was “disappointed by the UAW leadership’s actions.”

“Despite the unprecedented economic package GM put on the table, including historic wage increases and manufacturing commitments. We will continue to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible for the benefit of our team members, customers, suppliers, and communities across the U.S. In the meantime, our priority is the safety of our workforce,” the automaker said in a statement Thursday.

Stellantis has not yet commented on the strikes. The Epoch Times has contacted a Stellantis spokesperson for comment.

The “stand-up strikes”—effectively staggered strikes across the various automakers’ factories—are a nod to the historic “sit-down” strikes UAW members held in the 1930s, and avoid a full walkout.

UAW President Mr. Fain said during Thursday’s press conference that the strategy will “keep the companies guessing,” and give its national negotiators “maximum leverage and flexibility in bargaining.”

However, Mr. Fain warned that the UAW will go “all out” if it needs to, adding that “everything is on the table.”

He also clarified that workers who have not yet been called to join the strike will continue to work under the expired contract.

Speaking to reporters outside the Ford facility in Wayne minutes after the strike began Thursday, the union head criticized the three companies for allegedly failing to negotiate in good faith.

“They waited until the last week to want to get down to business, shame on them,” he said. Mr. Fain also said he believes it is a complete “joke” that the companies have suggested the strikes may bankrupt them.

“The cost of labor that goes into a vehicle is 5 percent of the vehicle, they could double our wages and they could not raise the price of vehicles and they could still make billions of dollars, it is a lie like everything else that comes out of their mouths.”

The union head also hinted that more strikes could take place at further facilities if the three companies are unable to meet the union’s demands.

The last time there was a UAW strike was in 2019 when the union went on strike for six weeks against General Motors. It cost the automaker $3.6 billion.

First, let’s look at the report. According to Fox Business:

General Motors will suspend advertising on Twitter as the social media giant continues to find its footing under the new ownership of Elon Musk.

“We are engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership. As is normal course of business with a significant change in a media platform, we have temporarily paused our paid advertising. Our customer care interactions on Twitter will continue,” the carmaker told Fox Business.

The announcement came a day after Musk took ownership of the social media giant and immediately fired several top executives. In an effort to assure advertisers, Musk on Thursday said the platform would not be a “free-for-all hellscape” following the $44 billion acquisition.

“Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!” Musk said in a lengthy statement titled “Dear Twitter Advertisers.” “In addition to adhering to our laws of the land, our platform must be warm and welcoming to all, where you can choose your desired experience according to your preferences.”

Some have worried about what, if any, regulations on hate speech would be imposed under the new ownership and how ads could be affected. Fox Business has reached out to Ford and Stellantis, the parent company of several car brands, including Fiat, Jeep and Dodge.

Whether or not one buys the excuse that it’s “normal course of business” to pause advertising after a change of ownership on a media platform, we should consider the other aspects of this move. Musk owns Tesla, a direct competitor of General Motors. On his first day, Musk announced he would be bringing in Tesla engineers to examine Twitter’s operations. While there may not be any intention by Musk to dive into his automotive competitors’ business, it’s prudent for General Motors to pause until they could verify his intentions.

If General Motors cancels their ads indefinitely, we can assume it’s due to corporate wokeness. The platform is almost certainly going to reach more eyeballs under Musk’s control and since it’s assumed it will be more “conservative-friendly,” the quality of the potential buyers General Motors could reach there will go up. If they turn their ads back on, we can assume they were truthful about simply pausing to understand Musk’s intentions. Stay tuned.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have had some serious words for both imposter president Joe Biden and WEF chairman Klaus Schwab as well as others. It all has to do with debates over the Fourth Industrial Revolution related to energy storage. Battery storage of electricity and how fast electric vehicles (EVs) should become a standard as part of the World Economic Forum as part of WEF’s Global Battery Alliance.

The WEF is working to enact a Carbon 55 plan whereby they will legislate a 55% reduction in vehicle emissions by 2030 and achieve “carbon neutrality” by 2035.  It is to be noted that anybody awake in high school science class knows you do not get energy out without putting energy in with some expenditure of waste as a byproduct but Klaus Schwab must be betting none of us were awake in this part of science class.

But CEOs like Barra play the game to keep their companies profitable and remain on the map.  In a recent joint letter to Congress the CEOs of several major automakers, which included GM CEO Barra, they urging Congress to lift the Electric Vehicle (EV) tax credit cap.  GM, Ford, and Chrysler all pledge to invest more than $170 billion through 2030 in the development of future electric vehicle technology, production, and sales.

The automakers cited recent economic pressures such as supply chain constraints as increasing manufacturing costs and raising prices for consumers.

As these credits stand now, the current $7,500 tax credit is phased out once a manufacturer reaches 200,000 EV units sold. GM hit the cap this year already and is now ineligible for further customer tax credits. Tesla has hit this target cap as well. Toyota and Ford also expect their EV tax credits to expire by the end of the year 2022.

GM recently had its stocks slide in value by 8% in the week ending June and there are other signs of trouble on the horizon for all automakers.  Car sales for 2022 are now forecast to be down 17.3%, according to Cox Automotive. Cox revised down their 2022 sales forecast from 15.3 million vehicles to 14.4 million units which are actually below the 14.6 million sold in the Covid pandemic year of 2020.

American Politicians sticking their noses in things like business and industry is never a good thing as Senator Elizabeth Warren (D) (not a Native American) recently demonstrated real time.  She came out with a statement that read:

“Converting our public transportation to electric is one of the best ways we can create jobs, modernize our crumbling infrastructure, and fight the climate crisis.”

She then went on with a Tweet:

“General Motors just announced plans to lay off nearly 15,000 workers and shut down plants across the US. This is the same @GM that got a huge tax break from the #GOPTaxScam and spent $4.5 billion on stock buybacks last year. It’s shameful.”

CEO Barra responded in a general way with a press release:

“The actions we are taking today continue our transformation to be highly agile, reliant, and profitable while giving us the flexibility to invest in the future.”

She went on:

“We recognize the need to stay in front of changing market conditions and customer preferences to position our company for long-term success.”

The restructuring of GM is said to save 6 billion dollars a year annually with some of that money going to future EV research and development.

Warren then joined UAW protesters when GM announced plant closures.  Where Liz Warren is a proven unhinged progressive liberal out of touch with reality is the fact of the matter is GM CEO Barra recently came out publically stating GM cannot make trucks fast enough to satisfy market demand.  So, at a time when America’s Democrat politicians push automakers to move to EVs, the American public is stating they want the opposite, fuel-thirsty pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles.

In a case going back to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when GM opened a plant in Uzbekistan Clinton offered a soundbite in 2011 of:

“It is a collaboration between Uzbek and American companies and it will serve as a symbol of our friendship and cooperation.”

The announcement came after the GM Foundation donated $684.455 in GM vehicles to the Clinton Foundation.  Mary Barra came on board GM in 2013 and exposed Clinton’s charade.

That same plant in Uzbekistan is now involved in a criminal investigation involving fraud, money laundering, and embezzlement.

Peter Flaherty who is CEO of the watchdog group National Legal and Policy Center said, “This episode is another example of the Clintons of how, if you do business with them, they will do something for you.”

So why would the Clintons be interested in Uzbekistan?

Turns out they are major producers of cotton, oil, and precious metals starting with gold!

Then we get into Elon Musk and Twitter. Musk and his non-UAW Tesla operations have been unfairly shunned and treated less than by the union-loving Democrats.

Elon Musk has been critical of Twitter for allowing disinformation on its platform when it favors the Democrats and going so far as to outright ban Republicans who try to call them out.

In the past I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party.

But they have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican.

Now, watch their dirty tricks campaign against me unfold …

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 18, 2022

Musk uses a specific example of a Tweet by Hillary Clinton that remains where she outright lied trying to frame President Donald Trump for impeachment:

“Computer scientists have apparently uncovered a covert server linking the Trump Organization to a Russian-based bank.”

Elon Musk @elonmusk recently revived that old Tweet by responding:

“You are absolutely correct.  That tweet is a Clinton campaign hoax for which their campaign lawyer is undergoing a criminal trial.”

Musk then referenced a BBC story where Michael Sussmann was accused of trying to bait the FBI to investigate the bogus claim of the Clinton campaign.

Elon Musk @elonmusk then piled on with:

“Sussmann himself admitted billing the Clinton Campaign to pay for him to present the Russia hoax to the FBI!  This is not even questioned by the defense.”

Musk has stated he donated money to the Clinton campaign and voted for her over Trump in 2016 and is now “doubly pissed off about those funds being used for lying.”

Musk has announced he has voted for Democrats in the past but will now vote for Republicans in the future.

Elon Musk has felt that his companies of Tesla and SpaceX have been improperly shunned by the Democrat politicians of Washington and that may have also led to his leaving the party.

An example occurred in this past month of May when Tesla, the world’s leading maker of electric vehicles, had been cut from Standard and Poor’s (S&P’s) Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) Index.  The index is said to be a device of globalists pushing climate change and carbon footprints to have control over business and industry in the free world.  created for environmentally conscious investors owing to flaws in its business conduct and, ironically, aspects of the company’s low-carbon strategy. The move inflamed Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who caviled, “ESG is a scam.”

Exxon is rated top ten best in world for environment, social & governance (ESG) by S&P 500, while Tesla didn’t make the list!

ESG is a scam. It has been weaponized by phony social justice warriors.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 18, 2022

Musk has an above-average intellect and he may not be wrong.  The ESG system began from the UN in 2004.  The Internet offers this information:

“Who Cares Wins (WCW) was initiated by the UN Secretary General and UN Global Compact in 2004 in collaboration with the Swiss government. The initiative was endorsed by 23 financial institutions collectively representing more than US $6 trillion in assets.”

The problem many people in the free world have with the measure of carbon footprints and the ESG system is it neglects the most air polluting portion of the world, Asia, and specifically China.  The other issue with this initiative is a significant number of the population does not believe climate change is man-made.

Since Musk is the richest man in the western world at some 220 billion, he could be the one man to actually destroy the new socialist Democrat party of America.

Interestingly, when Tesla lost its ESG ranking in the ESG index, Tesla stock went down.  It is easy to see why Barra and Musk can get so angry when games are played behind their backs by globalists who know or care little about business and industry.

Barra always remains classy as Musk can get a little trashy.  This could explain America’s love for Elon Musk.

Standard and Poor’s offered a piss poor explanation why Tesla slid off the index list not worth printing here.

Copyright © 2022 by Mark S. Schwendau

Mark S. Schwendau is a retired technology professor who has always had a sideline in news editorial writing where his byline has been, “Bringing little known news to people who simply want to know the truth.”  He classifies himself as a Christian conservative who God cast to be a realist.  Mark is an award-winning educator who has published 7 books and numerous peer-reviewed trade journal articles some of which can be found on the Internet.  His father was a fireman/paramedic while his mother was a registered nurse.  He holds multiple degrees in technology education, industrial management, OSHA Safety, and Driver’s Education.  His personal website is www.IDrawIWrite.Tech.

Image by Fortune Live Media, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr, and JD Lasica from Pleasanton, CA, US, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.