The Three Big Ones The United Auto Workers (UAW) union and Detroit automakers came to historic deals that raised wages, gave workers cost-of-living pay, and improved their retirement benefits. Because the workers at other American companies are not unionized, similar deals will not be possible with them. Because the UAW went on strike, Toyota is giving its plant workers raises and new contracts. This is a not-so-subtle move to stop those workers from joining together. Already, the UAW is thinking about adding other American companies, like Tesla. A person who knows the situation says that a UAW organizing team is at the EV maker’s Fremont plant “talking to coworkers about the benefits of collective bargaining.” VW and Toyota are two car companies that might do the same thing. The President of the United Auto Workers (UAW), Shawn Fain, made the following statement: “When we return to the bargaining table in 2028, it won’t only be with a Big Three. It will be with a Big Five or Big Six.” Labor News, a magazine that supports unions, says that Toyota raised wages at its factories in Alabama and Kentucky. Manufacturers’ top pay at both places is said to have gone up from $2.94 to $34.80, and skilled artisans’s full pay has gone up from $3.70 to $43.20. The driver called the company to find out more. If we find anything else, we will add it to this story. “A turning point in the class war that’s been raging in this country for the past 40 years,” Fain called the recent deal with Detroit. This could mean that he and the UAW want to gather nonunion workers across the country. Toyota hasn’t said if the UAW deal changed how much it pays its workers. The executive vice president of corporate resources for Toyota Motor North America, Chris Reynolds, told Axios, “We value our employees and their contributions, and we show it by offering robust compensation packages that we continually review to ensure that we remain competitive in the automotive industry.” But don’t be surprised if other American automakers, like Honda, Volkswagen, and Tesla, raise wages in response to what’s happening.
