The American auto workers' strike has achieved remarkable results, but electric vehicles have suffered

At the sound of a whistle on the night of September 15, the United Auto Workers of America (UAW) began its largest strike in history, with 25,000 workers shouting the slogan "eat the rich" (translated as the Chinese equivalent of "fight the rich" and "eat the big households") and began strike rallies at five assembly plants and 38 parts distribution plants.

Now, three weeks later, the union president said that the results were remarkable, that he was only one step away from the workers' final victory, and graciously said that he would not expand the strike for the time being.

The stock prices of the Detroit Big Three have finally stopped falling and rebounded, but for these three traditional car companies, the phased victory of the strike is actually not good news, because these victories are sacrificed for the profits of the electric car business as a bargaining chip.

Universal concessions

UAW Chairman Sean Fein said the reason for agreeing not to expand the strike the following week was because GM made a major concession to include workers at joint venture battery factories in union agreements.

Because most of the battery factories of the three giants are joint ventures with Japanese and Korean battery companies, they were not protected by union agreements before. GM's third and fourth U.S. battery plants currently under construction are joint ventures with LG Energy and Samsung SDI, respectively.

Although U.S. Democratic senators have been pushing GM, Ford and other companies to include joint venture factory workers in union agreements, car companies have not agreed. Workers at these joint venture battery factories are paid much less than union members, and if they are allowed to join the union, it will mean that the cost of battery production will rise sharply.

This time, the UAW threatened to strike GM's Arlington plant in Texas, where SUVs such as the Cadillac Escalade are mainly produced, which is GM's cash cow.

In desperation, GM had to make concessions, while LG Energy and Samsung SDI declined to comment.

Why does the UAW insist on letting the workers of the battery factory join the union, not really feeling sorry for these workers, but to reassure the majority of American auto workers that even if the car companies clamored for an electric transformation, they would not be left behind, and the union would always protect their rights and interests.

As soon as GM relaxed, it cleared the way for UAW and car companies to sign a final agreement, because the other two Ford and Stellantis became very passive and most likely could only accept.

Harley Shaiken, a labor professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said GM's concession redefined the status of unions in the transition to electrification.

In the words of UAW Chairman Sean Finn, GM is laying the groundwork for a fair transition in the era of electric vehicles.

Of course, GM has not given an official response at present, these are unilateral statements by UAW, and the details of the agreement have not been disclosed. But the UAW is assured, and Sean Finn said that if negotiations stalled again, they would go after the lucrative pickup factory.

"We know very well where the pain points of car companies are, we know what are their tools to make money, we know which factories they are really afraid of strikes, and we still have more cards in our hands, they know very well in their hearts."

The Big Three are under pressure

In addition to GM's agreement to let joint venture battery factory workers join the union, UAW and car companies have made a lot of progress in negotiations in the past three weeks, and car companies have relaxed a lot in terms of salaries.

All three automakers have pledged to convert temporary workers to regular employees, and Ford has also proposed a 23 percent pay increase, and the other two are offering around 20 percent. In addition, Ford and Stellantis agreed to resume cost-of-living adjustments, which would allow workers to worry about inflation and rising prices affecting their incomes.

But these have not yet reached the ultimate goal of the UAW, and workers want more, in addition to money, they want to make sure they don't lose their jobs in the transition to electrification.

While car companies are making compromises and concessions, they are also taking measures to stop losses. GM said losses had reached $200 million in the first two weeks of the strike, while Ford said the number of layoffs triggered by the strike reached 1,800.

At the beginning of the strike, Tesla CEO Musk warned that if all the requirements of the UAW are met, there is only one fate waiting for the Detroit Big Three, that is, bankruptcy.

Tesla, which recently released third-quarter delivery data, has also performed poorly, so Musk has come up with a trick to respond, that is, to cut prices. The prices of the Model 3 and Model Y in the United States have been lowered again.

Tesla's provocation of electric vehicle price war will reduce the profit margin of electric models in all US markets, and the three traditional car companies that have been burned by the strike will face greater pressure to transform.

The workers are busy "fighting the local tycoons" and are happy, but what awaits them is not necessarily happy ending.