Striking or Not, United Auto Workers Members Are Getting Creative
With the UAW using a “targeted strike” against the Big Three, only a minority of workers are on strike so far. But many others are wreaking havoc on the companies by refusing overtime — forcing management to shut down some plants for this entire past weekend.
General Motors workers with the UAW Local 2250 strike outside the Wentzville Assembly plant in Missouri on September 15, 2023. (Michael B. Thomas / Getty Images)
Only 13,000 of 146,000 autoworkers at the Big Three companies are on strike so far. But others still on the job are turning up the heat by refusing voluntary overtime.
At all three companies — Ford, General Motors (GM), and Stellantis — United Auto Workers (UAW) members have told Labor Notes about overtime refusals. Many Big Three plants are hugely dependent on overtime to make up for understaffing.
Organizing on the shop floor and on Facebook, many autoworkers unified so fast to do their part for the strike that they forced management to shut their plants for this entire past weekend.
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