A strike by autoworkers dragged into its second week on Wednesday, with the United Auto Workers union threatening to expand its work stoppage unless it sees some major progress by Friday, the Associated Press reported.
In a video statement late Monday, UAW President Shawn Fain said workers at more factories will join those who are now in the fifth day of a strike at three plants, according to the AP.
“We’re not going to keep waiting around forever while they drag this out … and we’re not messing around,” Fain said as she announced the 12 p.m. Eastern time Friday deadline for escalating the strike unless there is “serious progress” in the talks, the Associated Press reported.
Union leaders are pressing hard for the Big 3 automakers to meet four key demands. Among them, are wage increases of about 40% and cost of living guarantees, NPR reported on Wednesday.
The strike is so far limited to about 13,000 workers at a Ford assembly plant in Wayne, Mich., a GM factory in Wentzville, Mo., and a Stellantis plant in Toledo, Ohio, published reports indicated.
Joseph Sarkis, a management professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, spoke to MassLive about the strike’s impact on the supply chain, and what that could end up meaning for consumers.
This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and content.
MassLive: So how will this strike initially impact the supply chain?
Sarkis: “There are number of ways. [The supply chain] was fragile before COVID … And the recovery has not been complete … There is going to be a disruption, and the union has thought through this very carefully. And the situation has made labor very strong. So why not take advantage of it right now while they have the strength?”
Q: What might this mean for consumers?
Sarkis: “People may not see things until a little later. Right now, the supply chain has inventory. The reason why they have inventory is because of the COVID experience. They needed to build up a resiliency because of [the pandemic]. One way to way to build resiliency is to have multiple sources of suppliers and more inventory.”
Q: So how long will it take before consumers feel this?
Sarkis: “Because of the inventory in the system, it may take a while. Right now, there is 45 to 60 days in the pipleline … It’s not only the automotive industry being impacted, but the related industries. There might be a slowdown in shipping from the plants assembling the cars to the dealers. Right now, it’s only three plants. The numbers won’t be large. But if this issue expands, that will essentially shut down a lot of shipping. I’d say within a week. So if this goes over three or four weeks, there will definitely be an impact.”
Q: Where might else we see an impact?
Sarkis: “The ones that will be greatly impacted are the smaller companies deep in the supply chain, where a large percentage of their goods go to the auto industry.”
Q: What do those industries look like?
Sarkis: “They could make components for radiators or filter products. It could be the smaller parts of air conditioning units or engines, like a piston manufacturer. You’re talking three or four tiers deep down into the supply chain.
“This is a unique situation where the union has decided to go after all three companies, and have the broadest impact possible in terms of unique supply chains. If they only went after GM, there would be a lot less disruption. But because these are unique supply chains — radiators for GM are not the same as radiators for Ford — there could be very broad disruptions.”
