The Impact of the American Auto Workers Strike: Analysis and Updates

2023-09-18 17:04:29

The American Treasury Secretary considers it “premature” to quantify the economic impact of the social conflict.

The American Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, called on Monday for a “win-win” agreement to end the automobile strike in the United States, also deeming it “premature” to quantify the economic impact of this social conflict .

“I think it’s premature to make predictions regarding what this means for the economy. “It will depend a lot on the duration of the strike and who will be affected,” commented the American Minister of Economy and Finance, interviewed on the CNBC channel.

“The important point, I think, is that both sides need to iron out their disagreements and work towards a win-win agreement that is good for workers and good for the industry,” she added.

The American auto workers union, the UAW, began a strike on Friday among the “Big 3” (General Motors, Ford, Stellantis) and is demanding in particular wage increases.

On Friday, US President Joe Biden called on the three manufacturers for a “fair” sharing of their “record profits”.

Janet Yellen thus underlined that “the industry is doing well and the president wants to see workers do well too”.

“President Biden has made clear that he expects them to work hard to negotiate 24/7 to reach a solution. So we hope that this will happen soon,” she said.

UAW President Shawn Fain on Sunday threatened a possible “amplification” of the strike if better proposals were not made.

Three sites have been shut down since Friday, a General Motors factory in Wentzville (Missouri), another of Stellantis in Toledo (Ohio), as well as a Ford branch in Wayne (Michigan).

They concern 12,700 of the 146,000 UAW members listed at the three manufacturers, who have never experienced a simultaneous strike.

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