(TargetLiberty.org) – The strike by the United Auto Workers against the Big Three automakers is continuing strong during its fourth week. The strike has also had a negative effect on the U.S. economy, setting a new record for the auto industry strike that has cost the country the most.
On Monday, Anderson Economic Group, an economic consulting firm, reported on Monday that the strike against Stellantis, General Motors, and Ford had cost the U.S. economy $5.5 billion as of the end of the third week. The previous record for an automotive strike was at $4 billion, and it was set in 2019 when the union had been on strike against GM for a month.
According to the breakdown, the strike has led to workers losing $579 million in wages, and automakers have lost $2.68 billion. They are not the only ones affected by the strike though as suppliers have also lost $1.6 billion, while customers and dealers have lost $1.26 billion as a result of the strike.
Patrick Anderson, the CEO of Anderson Economic Group argued that the reason the third week of the strike ended up having a higher cost than the previous two weeks is because it came with more factories shuttering and dealerships needing to respond to the shortages. He added that suppliers are also facing more extreme stress right now, with over 30 percent of them stating that they had to start laying people off.
In a recent survey conducted by MEMA, a vehicle suppliers association, 30 percent of surveyed suppliers have stated that they had to lay off some of their employees because of the strike. Additionally, suppliers are expecting that they will need to start laying off employees in mid-October which will result in the number increasing from 30 percent to 60 percent.
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