Hyperdrive
Biggest Auto Union Gears Up for Fight Over Battery Worker Pay
- United Auto Workers says labor negotiations to start in July
- Talks could set a precedent as manufacturing jobs return to US
Photographer: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images
This article is for subscribers only.
The biggest US auto-industry union is preparing for a major fight with Detroit’s legacy carmakers over the future of workers at their electric-vehicle battery plants.
The dispute could be lengthy and complex, since the 18,000 or so workers those carmakers — General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis NV — plan to hire in the US will work for a patchwork of joint ventures not covered by existing labor contracts. The new corporate structures also mean United Auto Workers, the union waging the battle over pay and benefits, might have to craft new deals for each plant.