UAW Strike Has Led To $3.95B In Losses, Lansing Group Says

DETROIT — As the United Auto Workers’ strike against Detroit’s big three automakers enters its third week, the work stoppage has led to more than $3.9 billion in losses, according to a report released on Monday.

Lansing-based Anderson Economic Group released the report, which claims that the strike, which is on its 18th day after beginning Sept. 15 and involves more than 25,000 workers, has led to $3.95 billion in losses. The group said that the second week of the strike was more costly than the first.

By the firm’s calculations, the strike has caused losses found in $325 million in lost wages, $1.12 billion in losses to Detroit’s three automakers, $1.29 billion in supplier losses, and $1.2 billion in dealer and consumer losses, the report said.

The figures released by AEG do not include plant closures, additional strike targets, or layoffs taking effect after Friday, the group said. Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have made stops at plants within the last week to meet with autoworkers.

“Suppliers were particularly hard-hit by the UAW’s strategy of announcing specific plants to be struck just hours before they were shut down,” Patrick Anderson, AEG’s principal and CEO, said in a statement issued on Monday.

He added: “When the innocent bystanders begin to feel it, “it will affect the generally supportive sentiment Americans have been expressing about the UAW’s demands thus far in the strike.”

Looking ahead, AEG anticipates that the coming week will be significantly more costly for Ford after the company was largely spared in second-week targets. The newly announced targets will result in Ford dealers and customers losing one of their most popular (and profitable) models, specifically, the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator models in the mid-size SUV category, the group said Monday.

Roughly 13,000 UAW workers initially walked off the job at three plants in Michigan, Ohio, and Missouri as part of what Fain called the "Stand Up Strike," which is a strategy to target specific plants. As of Monday morning, those workers were still on strike.

Another 7,000 walked off job sites at the Ford Chicago Assembly Plant and GM Lansing Delta Assembly Friday.

On Monday, Ford announced that it has temporarily laid off 330 workers at its Chicago Stamping Plant and at its Lima Engine Plant in Ohio because operations have been “directly impacted” by the strike at Chicago Assembly Plant. In total, Ford has 930 workers who have been laid off due to the strike, the automaker reported.

The union is calling on the automakers for a 46 percent wage increase and a 32-hour workweek for its members. The union also wants to eliminate the wage-tiered system, restore cost of living adjustments, end temporary workers after 90 days, and increase multiple retiree benefits.

Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis have offered the union multiple proposals that included a 10 percent wage increase from GM, a 14.5 percent increase from Stellantis and Ford's 9 percent increase, and a 6 percent lump sum added after. The union rejected all proposals.