On Wednesday, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union presented their own counterproposal on money matters for Ford Motor (NYSE:F). Meanwhile, Stellantis (NYSE:STLA), the parent company of Chrysler, is getting ready to share their counteroffer later this week.
As the current four-year labor agreements covering 146,000 workers at the Detroit Three automakers are set to expire on September 14, discussions are becoming increasingly intense. The UAW has reported that 97% of its members have voted in favor of authorizing a strike should an agreement fail to be reached.
"They chose to follow the same path they have in the past, which is delay, delay," UAW President Shawn Fain told CNBC. "They waited now until the last eight days to want to start talking -- so we've got a lot of work to do."
Just last week, Ford announced that it had proposed a 9% wage increase that would extend until 2027, which falls significantly short of the 46% wage increase the union is pushing for.
The UAW anticipates receiving a proposal from General Motors (NYSE:GM) on Thursday.
The union has put forth a set of demands that includes a 20% immediate wage increase, followed by four consecutive annual wage hikes of 5% each. Additionally, they are advocating for defined-benefit pensions for all workers, the implementation of 32-hour work weeks, and additional cost-of-living adjustments.
Furthermore, the UAW is seeking to make all temporary workers at U.S. automakers permanent employees, enhance profit-sharing arrangements, and reinstate retiree health-care benefits and cost-of-living adjustments.
According to the UAW, Ford is pushing for no limit on the number of temporary workers, and these temporary workers would not be eligible for profit-sharing, receive wages lower than 60% of what permanent workers earn, with less access to comprehensive healthcare benefits.
Shares of F, STLA and GM are down 1.16%, 0.17% and 1.92% respectively in early trading Thursday morning.