LOUISVILLE, Ky. — United Auto Workers are gearing up for a strike if they cannot agree on a new contract.

The union is edging closer to a strike when its contract ends on Sept. 14.

What You Need To Know

  • United Auto Workers union is demanding more benefits, pay raises ahead of contract negotiations

  • The union is edging closer to a strike when its contract ends in nine days

  • UAW Local 862 workers participated in a practice picket in late August

  • UAW has around 12,000 members working in Louisville

“You see a lot of families here today, some, you know, some with the UAW are definitely concerned,” said Todd Dunn, President of UAW Local 862. “There’s just a lot of things on the table that we’re looking at that we’ve got to we’ve got a right to ship and we’ve got to get the jobs back to career jobs and take care of these families that you see here today.”

Dunn said late August their membership voted to hold a practice strike.

“If you look at our active workforce, we’re over 12,000 members, (12,500). And then if you look at our retirees, we’re looking all in at about 20,000 members strong. So that’s our footprint with the UAW Local 862,” Dunn said.

Dunn says they’re reluctant to strike, rather, they’re hoping for an agreement with the automakers.

“Clearly, you know, the tiers, tiers are not only problematic, but they got to go. Cost of living definitely is important,” Dunn said.

They’re also calling for higher wages.

“We’re looking for those benefits of our members, those ancillary benefits that we spoke about as a union on anything else that we could provide, but mainly for the company to get the wages up and economic conditions to where they need to be,” Dunn said.

He said now is the time for the company to take care of its workers.

“It’s as simple as that. We don’t want to strike. It’s going to be Ford Motor Company that actually puts us in a position to have to have a work stoppage. It’s up to Ford Motor Company to meet us at the table and right now, from what I’m understanding, we’re not there yet,” Dunn said.

The UAW union is demanding a 46% raise, a 32-hour week with 40 hours of pay and restoration of traditional pensions from General Motors.

The automakers have dismissed the UAW’s wish list. 

They argue its demands are unrealistic at a time of fierce competition from Tesla and lower-wage foreign automakers.

Roughly, 146 thousand UAW members might strike if an agreement is not reached.

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