UAW to hit more auto facilities as strike spreads

Thousands more employees at Detroit’s Big Three will walk off the job Friday afternoon, the first escalation in the United Auto Workers’ week-old strike and a setback for President Joe Biden’s hopes of an early end to the dispute.

UAW President Shawn Fain announced that parts distribution center workers at more than three dozen Stellantis and General Motors facilities across 20 states will join the roughly 12,700 union members taking part in the initial three-plant strike that began Sept. 15 against the major automakers.

“This expansion will also take our fight nationwide. We will be everywhere from California to Massachusetts, from Oregon to Florida,” Fain said in a Facebook Live stream.

The expansion excludes Ford, which Fain said had been making strides at the negotiating table.