UAW strike costs US economy nearly $4 BILLION in just two weeks trends now
The United Auto Workers (UAW) strike has cost the economy $4billion in lost wages and losses to manufacturers, dealerships and customers, a new report has found.
An analysis by Michigan economic consulting firm Anderson Economic Group (AEG) found that total losses reached $3.95 billion in the first two weeks of the strike.
Workers lost $325 million in direct wages and Detroit's big three - Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis (Chrysler) - lost $1.12 billion.
Suppliers lost $1.29 billion due to a decrease in demand for automotive parts and components, and auto dealers and customers lost $1.2 billion.
'Suppliers were particularly hard-hit by the UAW's strategy of announcing specific plants to be struck just hours before they were shut down,' said Patrick Anderson, AEG's principal and CEO.
Workers stand on the picket line outside the General Motors Lansing Delta Plant in Michigan. Anderson Economic Group (AEG) estimates the strike has cost the economy nearly $4 billion
UAW members striking at the Stellantis Toledo Assembly Plant in Ohio. The AEG report found that workers lost $325 million in direct wages
Workers take part in the strike at the Ford assembly plant in Chicago. On Monday, General Motors and Ford indefinitely laid off an additional 500 workers due to the strike
'The shutdown of 38 parts distributions centers also crimped dealership service operations and, of course, caused more UAW workers to lose wages.'
Anderson noted that when distribution centers were shut down, the strike's impact spread past the parties involved in negotiations and trickled down the dealers, customers and additional suppliers.
'When the innocent bystanders begin to feel it, it will affect the generally supportive sentiment Americans have been expressing about the UAW's demands thus far in the strike,' he said.
The analysis did not include additional plant closures or strikes announced on or after September 29.
Union members have been on strike at Ford, Stellantis and General Motors
