US economy could lose $5.6B in revenue, mostly in Michigan, if UAW strikes for 10 days
The UAW is asking for a 32-hour work week and increased retirement benefits in their proposed contracts.
United Auto Workers members picket outside of GM's Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center in September 2019.
A new report shows that a strike by the United Auto Workers union would damage Michigan’s economy.
The study estimates that just a 10-day strike by UAW in their fight for a new contract against Detroit automakers would lead to $5.6 billion in economic losses.
Tyler Theile, VP of Anderson Economic Group who published the study, warns a longer strike — however unlikely — would be especially bad for the state’s economy.
“We feel that it’s unlikely that there would be a 42 day strike like there was in 2019. That alone caused a single quarter recession for Michigan,” says Theile.
Read: UAW president Shawn Fain calls Stellantis’ ‘concessionary offer’ trash
The 2019 strike was just for the 48,000 UAW workers at General Motors. Theile says automakers are in a worse bargaining position this time, with nearly 500,000 fewer vehicles in inventory than in September of 2019.
The UAW is asking for a 32-hour work week and increased retirement benefits in their proposed contracts.
So far, negotiations between the union and Ford, Stellantis and GM have been slow. UAW president Shawn Fain announced earlier this week that a series of strike authorization votes will take place over the next several days.
The strike deadline is at 11:59 p.m. ET on Sept. 14.
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