Since September 15 this year, the turmoil has lasted for more than six weeks, resulting in a general strike of workers of the three major U.S. auto giants led by UAW, which is directly close to the loss of $9.3 billion, and finally ended with the U.S. Big Three bowing their heads.
UAW announced agreements with General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis.
Among them, GM will provide employees with a 25% salary increase during the next four years of the contract period, eliminate multiple pay scales, etc.
Ford agreed to increase hourly wages by 25 percent over the life of the contract (over four years), while increasing the base rate to $28 an hour, an increase of 68 percent, and the maximum hourly wage to $40, an increase of more than 30 percent. With the addition of a cost-of-living allowance, the maximum salary is expected to increase by 33%.
Under the agreement reached between UAW and Stellantis, the maximum hourly wage will be increased by 33% to $42, and the starting hourly wage will be increased by 67% to $30. Stellantis' lowest-paid workers, temporary workers, will also receive a 165% increase in earnings over the contract period.
While the UAW and the three major American auto giants are fighting to the death, there are also two American auto giants who are also silently watching this protracted and costly struggle, that is, Toyota and Tesla.
Seeing that the great reconciliation had taken place, and seeing that the situation was not right, and that they might eventually suffer a big loss if they were forced to fight hard, the cunning Japanese immediately took the initiative to admit their cowardice and adopted the art of war by retreating as advancing.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Toyota Motor Corporation recently announced that Toyota has also announced that it will raise the wages of some employees in its U.S. factories and shorten the time it takes for employees to be able to obtain the highest pay.
A spokesman for Toyota Motor said that from January 1 next year, the wages of most of the company's assembly plant workers will be raised from $31.86 an hour to $34.80 an hour, an increase of about 9%, and hourly workers at Toyota's parts factories and logistics warehouses will also receive the same level of wage increases. In addition, Toyota has halved the time it takes for hourly workers in the U.S. to reach maximum pay: from eight years to four years, and increased paid time off.
Toyota has been sitting on the mountain watching the tiger fight, to see who will win, seeing that the three major automobile factories in the United States were taken down, he hurriedly took the initiative to accept the name of the petition, and took the initiative to raise wages and reduce the burden on workers! I have to say, the Japanese are shrewd enough!
In stark contrast to Toyota, Tesla, not only did not take the initiative to admit it, but Musk was also ready to fight the UAW.
UAW Chairman Sean Fein publicly said on Thursday that he is confident of taking on Tesla and Elon Musk, who opposes unions, and that Tesla will be the next target of the strike. Harris recently reminded that Musk should not underestimate that UAW has shown itself to be unscrupulous and well-organized.
Fein said in the interview that Tesla's labor cost is only 5% of the cost of a car, and Musk can double the wages of auto workers without raising the price of the car. Because even so, Musk can still make billions of dollars in profits.
Musk responded directly to Fein on social platforms, saying that no one would produce cars as a result. For UAW is not used to it at all!
Musk has long been a staunch opponent of the union. Mark Eberley, a former employee of Tesla's Fremont factory, was pessimistic, saying that UAWs would love to get involved with Tesla, but they shouldn't have a chance.
Beginning in 2016, Fremont workers began discussing plans to reintroduce unions to the plant, but Musk single-handedly blocked them. Tesla has undermined the emergence of unions in many ways, and there have even been radical tactics such as Musk's direct threats, factory censorship of union supporters, and dismissal of union enthusiasts.
However, with the reshuffle of UAW management and the rise in support for unions in the United States, Tesla's union crackdown strategy is clearly not enough. Fain also pushed the boat, saying that he was fighting for the entire American working class, and the enthusiasm of Tesla's factory workers continued to ferment during this period.
It is estimated that in the near future, Tesla will also face a violent storm, I wonder if Musk should also learn from Toyota, learn the Chinese Art of War to retreat as advance? I believe that history will tell Musk that Toyota has taught Tesla a good lesson!