United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain held a Facebook (NASDAQ:META) live event Friday afternoon where he announced his union has made “significant progress” in their effort to push automakers towards meeting the demands of their workers.
Fain announced that “moments before this broadcast” General Motors (NYSE:GM) agreed to place their EV battery manufacturing under the UAW’s national agreement, calling the transition a “transformative win” and averting a planned strike at the automaker's full-size SUV plant in Arlington, Texas.
“Our strike is working but we're not there yet,” Fain told the listeners.
During the "stand up" broadcast on Facebook Live, Fain revealed that the Detroit automaker had also consented to a 23% increase in wages, surpassing the wage hikes offered by both Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) and Stellantis (NYSE:STLA).
“We are winning. We are making progress, and we are moving in the right direction,” said Fain
The UAW will enter its 4th week of striking against Detroit’s largest automakers on Monday.
There are currently 25,300 UAW members participating in a strike out of a total of approximately 146,000 employees collectively employed by GM, Ford Motor, and Stellantis.
Discussions with these automakers had been ongoing earlier in the week, with both GM and Ford confirming that they had presented new proposals to the union.
Specifics regarding GM's counteroffer on Thursday were not disclosed. This counteroffer was in response to a comprehensive proposal put forth by the union on Monday, and the details of that offer have also not been made public.
Shares of GM, STLA and F are up 2.67%, 2.65% and 1.89% respectively in afternoon trading on Friday.