UAW president touts ‘major breakthrough’ in contract talks
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The head of the United Auto Workers Union says there’s been a “major breakthrough” in talks designed to end the nearly three-week old strike.
UAW President Shawn Fain, a native of Kokomo, made the announcement Friday afternoon in a Facebook Live.
Fain announced General Motors has agreed to place workers at its EV battery plants under union contracts.
GM is building a $3 billion EV battery plant in New Carlisle, Indiana. The site in St. Joseph County would be GM’s fourth EV plant and eventually employ 1,700 people when it opens in 2026.
“We are winning. We are making progress. We are heading in the right direction,” Fain said in the announcement.
Fain confirmed the UAW was set to add GM’s Arlington, Texas facility to the strike but canceled the plan after GM’s announcement.
No facilities will be added to the UAW strike at this point.
Indiana has the country’s second-largest automotive manufacturing industry with 116,000 workers and five vehicle assembly plants, but none of the facilities in the state have been called to join the walkout.
General Motors did announce earlier this week it was furloughing 34 workers at its metal center in Marion, Indiana.
GM called the furloughs “negative ripple effects” from strikes at the GM Wentzville Assembly plant in Ohio and the GM Lansing Delta Township Assembly facility in Michigan. Those strikes were announced one week ago.
Stellantis announced last month it may be forced to lay off 300 workers in Kokomo as a result of the strike, but there’s been no public acknowledgment that the layoffs have happened.