DETROIT (NewsNation) — Members of the United Auto Workers union overwhelmingly voted to strike if negotiations with the country’s three largest automakers continue to stall.
The union said an average of 97% of combined members approved the action, despite some votes from the 150,000 union workers still being tallied.
However, it’s important to note that the vote does not guarantee a strike will be called, but only ensures the union has the right to walk out if the Big Three refuse to reach a deal, the UAW reported.
UAW President Shawn Fain announced the results on a Facebook Live stream Friday, saying “It’s pathetic workers have to fight for basic quality of life and respect.”
“Our union’s membership is clearly fed up with living paycheck-to-paycheck while the corporate elite and billionaire class continue to make out like bandits,” Fain said. “The Big Three have been breaking the bank while we have been breaking our backs.”
Fain continued, “This is the time to take back what we’re owed.”
When the current contract with General Motors, Ford and Stellantis expires on Sept. 14, the union will be able to support a walkout for its members.
If companies are not able to reach an agreement with the UAW before the current contract expires, it could cause more than $5 billion in economic losses.
The UAW’s leadership was in Louisville on Thursday, and in Detroit on Wednesday, where dozens of union workers — all dressed in red for solidarity — marched around the block, chanting and holding signs that supported their demands.
“They’ve enjoyed a decade of high profits. The first six months of this year, they recognized $21 billion in profits, and our workers’ wages went backward,” Fain said. “There’s no excuse for that.”
Some of the union’s demands include more than 40% pay raises for workers, reinstating cost of living adjustments, ending tiered wage systems and a 32-hour work week.
Fain explained that expectations are high because Big Three profits are high. In just the first six months of the year, the Big Three made a combined $21 billion in profits on top of the quarter-trillion dollars in North American profits they made over the last decade, according to the UAW.
“Record profits equal record contracts,” Fain told NewsNation Thursday.
Ford, General Motors and Stellantis have all released statements on the negotiations, each assuring they have the best interests of UAW workers in mind.
The automakers still have about 20 days left to reach an agreement before a potential strike goes into effect when the union contract expires.