The union is expected to give a Facebook Live update Friday on its bargaining with the Big Three to its members. It's unclear if it plans to expand the strike then.
Ford Motor Co. is directing 350 workers at its Livonia Transmission Plant and 50 at the Sterling Heights Axle Plant not to report to work on Thursday, according to a statement sent by Ford spokesperson Dan Barbossa on Wednesday. The layoffs are a result of the expansion of the strike to Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant last week, which produces Ford Explorer, Lincoln Aviator, and Police Interceptor SUVs.
Ever since the union strike started on Sept. 15, Ford has laid off roughly 1,330 workers.
Ford on Tuesday made its seventh and "strongest" offer to the union, including product commitments for every UAW-represented plant in the country, an increase in starting pay for temporary workers to 21 U.S. dollars per hour, conversion upon ratification of all temporary workers with at least three months of continuous service and a wage increase of "more than 20 percent."
The offer also includes restoring cost-of-living allowances, eliminating wage tiers, reducing by "more than half" the time it takes workers to reach the top of the wage scale.
Stellantis was spared from strike expansion last week as it made progress in talks with the union on areas including cost-of-living adjustments, the right not to cross a picket line, the right to strike over product commitments and plant closures, and an outsourcing moratorium.
With 9,200 UAW member workers on strike, General Motors (GM) has laid off 2,175 at its plants that feed those facilities or require parts from them. The Detroit-based automaker estimates the strike has affected another 2,500 workers at its suppliers.
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