UAW Concerned That EV Production Will Lead To Lost Jobs

The milkman went missing thanks to the rise of refrigerators. Switchboard operators were done in by the dawn of direct dialing. And in the car industry, auto workers are deathly afraid the engine assembler will give way to battery builders.

Dread over the prospect that plug-in cars -- which have fewer parts and require less labor to build -- will doom auto jobs helped spark the first UAW strike against General Motors in over a decade. Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which are rolling their own battery-powered models to market in the coming years, could face a similar fate if they’re unable to quell the UAW’s concerns that widespread adoption of EVs endangers the employment of 35,000 union members.

Vette71 - 9/27/2019 10:12:57 AM

+2 Boost

To quote Homer Simpson "DOH". Why do they think that GM is so firm on keeping the temp workers as is? It gives them the flexibility the need to weather the transition. There still will be need to reduce the # of UAW employees. The best the UAW can hope for is GM's commitment to offer early retirement to UAW workers hit by the change.

TomM - 9/27/2019 2:16:07 PM

0 Boost

Because of the configuration of the Batteries - most EV's are like to be built on no more than one or two different Platforms in ANY company - reducing the amount of production lines and workers needed. I even think that many companies will even share platforms for EVs.

I still think it will be 25+ years before EVs could become the dominant car platform - because of infrastructure requirements that have not even been talked about much less addressed. Replacing the electric grid enough - will be maybe 40 or more years in the future as well.

MDarringer - 9/27/2019 6:34:50 PM

+2 Boost

Oh well...

skytop - 9/27/2019 7:50:53 PM

+7 Boost

The corrupt UAW should be more concerned that the Democrat party who are they are partners in crime will kill off individual cars as a modes of transportation.