The United Autoworkers' Union rejected an improved pay offer from Jeep maker Stellantis over the weekend as the group's unprecedented strike against the so-called 'Detroit Three' carmakers enters its fourth day amid slow progress on talks between the key decision-makers.
Speaking with CBS's 'Face The Nation' on Sunday, UAW President Shawn Fain said his union was "prepared to do whatever we have to do" in order to achieve there stated goal of a 40% pay increase, spread over four-and-a-half years, with cost of living increases and a shortened work week.
Fain also said the improved 21% pay offer from Stellantis was "definitely a no-go", putting the two sides far apart as the strike heads into its first full week following the historic action taken late Thursday to target all three major automakers with coordinated strikes.
The UAW had originally backed a 46% pay increase before retreating to a demand of around 40%, including an immediate 20% increase, but its demands remain a long way from the 20% increases offered by Ford and GM and the improved offer from Netherlands-based Stellantis.
Around 12,700 workers are picketing assembly sites around the mid-west, including a Ford F plant Wayne, Michigan, a General Motors GM facility in Wentzville, Missouri, and a Jeep plant, owned by Stellantis, in Toledo, Ohio.
Ford shares were marked 0.16% lower in pre-market trading to indicate an opening bell price of $12.59 each. GM shares, meanwhile, were little-changed from their Friday closing price of $33.95 each while Stellantis shares, which trade in Milan, fell 0.2% in early Monday dealing.
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