UAW Prez Says Big 3 Strikes Will Be Targeted – Strike Rally Scheduled for Friday in Detroit

Shawn Fain speaking at his first bargaining convention as UAW President (AP)

By: Mike Elk September 13, 2023

Folks, 

I just got back to Pittsburgh and wanted to give yinz a quick update on what increasingly looks like a series of strikes that will happen at some locations of the Big Three automakers beginning this Thursday at midnight. 

Earlier today, UAW President Shawn Fain announced that the union would schedule a strike rally for Friday in Detroit with Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT). The rally will help the UAW rally public support as it appears “very likely” that the union will strike this week. 

In an online town hall today, UAW President Shawn Fain said that the union would engage in a series of targeted strikes at certain employers, according to HuffPost labor reporter Dave Jamieson, who attended the online town hall meeting. 

Instead of striking all Big Three at the same time, the UAW will instead target specific locals. The union said it will begin informing individual UAW locals of when they will go on strike at 10 PM on Thursday. 

“This is going to create confusion for the companies. It’s going to keep them guessing on what might happen next,” Fain told the online meeting. “We’re gonna hit where we need to hit. And where we need to hit, we’re gonna hit to move mountains.”

Payday will update more in a newsletter later tonight. We are preparing to ship out next week to cover striking locals. 

Donate to help us travel to cover strikes at the Big Three. 

Thanks again for all the support. 

Melk 

About the Author

Mike Elk
Mike Elk is an Emmy-nominated labor reporter and alumni of the Guardian. A native of Pittsburgh, Elk grew up in a UE union family. Elk was the only American reporter in the room with Lula on the morning of the election & traveled with him to the Oval Office. Credited by the Washington Post for being the first reporter to track the strike wave systematically, Elk started Payday Report using his NLRB settlement from being illegally fired for union organizing in 2015. He lives in his hometown of Pittsburgh and attended journalism school at PUC-Rio de Janeiro. He speaks both Portuguese and Pittsburgh fluently. His email is [email protected]