OEMs

UAW Expands Strike Against GM, Walks Out of Tenn. Assembly Plant

October 29, 2023

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union on Saturday evening expanded its strike again General Motors.

The union said on Facebook and on X that it would walk out of GM’s assembly plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., after announcing that it had reached a tentative labor agreement with Stellantis.

Spring Hill is GM’s largest manufacturing plant in North America, according to the Detroit-based automaker’s website. It makes the Cadillac XT5 and XT6 SUVs, the Acadia SUV, and all-electric LYRIQ SUV.

The action comes on the heels of the UAW striking another of GM’s big, profitable truck and SUV plants in Arlington, Texas, last week.

GM said in a statement on Saturday that it was “disappointed” by the UAW’s move.

“We have continued to bargain in good faith with the UAW, and our goal remains to reach an agreement as quickly as possible,” the company said.

Recall that the UAW went on strike against individual assembly plants at each of the “Big Three” Detroit-area automakers on Sept. 15.

The UAW has over the last week reached tentative agreements with Ford and Stellantis. Union members at those two companies have gone back to work pending the ratification process.

GM is the only of the “Big Three” Detroit-area automakers that had not, as of Sunday afternoon, reached a tentative pact with the union.

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.