Ford Motors (NYSE:F) revealed this past Sunday that while negotiations between the Detroit automaker and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union have made strides in certain areas, they still have "significant gaps to close" on key economic issues before they can finalize a fresh labor agreement.
The "issues are interconnected and must work within an overall agreement that supports our mutual success," Ford said in a late evening statement after talks over the weekend.
On September 15th, the UAW initiated simultaneous strikes at one assembly plant from each of the Detroit Three automakers. On Friday, the strikes expanded to include additional General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) facilities, bringing the total number of striking workers to approximately 5,600 in addition to the initial 12,700 who were already on strike.
Last week, GM announced the temporary shutdown of its car plant in Kansas due to a parts shortage caused by the strike, resulting in the temporary furlough of 2,000 Kansas workers. Similarly, Stellantis had to temporarily lay off 68 employees in Ohio last week and anticipates the furloughing of an additional 300 workers in Indiana as a consequence of the strike.
UAW President Shawn Fain said Friday that Ford had improved its contract offer with the Union, boosting profit sharing and agreeing to permit workers to strike in the event of plant closures. Despite these positive developments, Fain noted that there were still substantial issues that the union needed to address.
Shares of F, GM and STLA are down 0.08%, 0.18% and 1.14% respectively in pre-market trading Monday morning.