Posted on 09/14/23
| News Source: MSN
As the United Auto Workers union is poised to go on a targeted strike against Detroit’s three biggest automakers at midnight Friday morning, Biden administration officials are preparing economic measures to protect suppliers to the auto industry from long-term damage, according to three people aware of internal conversations.
While the administration is not expected to intervene in a strike, Biden aides are worried that a protracted walkout could wipe out the thousands of suppliers that depend on the auto business from the three key automakers, Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private deliberations. Widespread failure of these smaller supplier firms — which number as many as 5,600 — could impede the broader U.S. auto supply chain even after the possible strike ends, according to the people.
What are the UAW strike demands? Here are issues amid negotiations
It is unclear what form the aid would take, but one option would be for the Labor Department to provide grants to assist workers at firms affected by a strike, two of the people said. Another option could be for the Small Business Administration to provide favorable loans to these firms. The discussions about these measures are preliminary, and talks remain fluid.
“The administration wants to be sure to do what it can to protect the Detroit supply chains,” one administration ally said. This person also spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. “They have to worry about how some of the less well-capitalized firms could be at risk.”
A White House spokeswoman declined to comment on any internal planning.
If the UAW goes on strike this week, it would be the first against an auto company since 2019. Talks are tense, even though the auto companies have significantly improved their wage offers to union workers. Ford is proposing a 20 percent raise over 4½ years, up from its initial offer of 9 percent. General Motors is offering an 18 percent raise over 4½ years, up from 10 percent earlier. And Stellantis, the parent company of Jeep and Chrysler, is offering 17.5 percent raises over that same time period, up from 14.5 percent.
UAW president Shawn Fain called the offers inadequate, given that inflation has soared in recent years while automaker profits and chief executive pay have ballooned.