The three U.S. automakers say they are already at a disadvantage to nonunion rivals while labor leaders hope that big gains in negotiations will inspire workers in Southern states to unionize.
The executive chairman of Ford Motor counsels patience as his company negotiates with the United Automobile Workers union, which has shut three of his company’s plants.
Mr. Ford, the executive chairman of Ford Motor, said nonunion automakers would make gains against Michigan automakers because of strikes by the United Automobile Workers union.
The United Automobile Workers union refrained from expanding the strikes at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis but said it could do so at any time.
The company said it had reached the limit of what it could offer to the United Automobile Workers union, which has expanded its strike to Ford’s largest plant.
The United Automobile Workers said on Friday it had secured an important concession from General Motors regarding the contracts of workers at battery factories.
Their responses obscure the nature of the conflict.
Contract talks at an electric vehicle battery plant in Lordstown could have even more of an impact than the autoworkers’ strike on the labor standards of the emerging electric-vehicle industry.
Autoworkers want, and deserve, a big raise. But they are asking for too much.
Labor leaders worry that some federal incentives for renewable energy do not come with strict standards on pay. In Maine, they added their own.