The United Auto Workers (UAW) union is striking selective plants of America’s Big Three auto manufacturers, threatening to hit the companies’ most profitable facilities next.
The UAW is asking for the moon, including eliminating or watering down crucial concessions it agreed to a generation ago when the auto industry was on its financial back. But union demands can’t be met without severely damaging GM, Ford and Stellantis.
This episode of What’s Ahead shows why an outsized contract would be a crusher for those manufacturers. Yet with next year’s election looming, President Biden has made it clear that he wants a juicy, unaffordable settlement.
Detroit is trying to comply with Washington’s utterly unrealistic demands that it go all out for electric vehicles (EVs) and in a few years abandon fossil-fuel vehicles altogether. The trouble is, Detroit is hemorrhaging red ink with EVs and can’t make money on them. Tesla has hopelessly outclassed Detroit in manufacturing costs and designs.
What the Big Three need is a big break from Washington’s mortal regulations.
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