UAW President: Walkouts At Detroit's Big 3 Can Happen At 'Any Time'

DETROIT — United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain threatened Detroit's Big Three with more walkouts "at any time," though he didn't specifically expand the ongoing strike Friday morning.

Fain said the strike is entering a phase as he called on union members to join picket lines across the country this weekend and support striking workers.

"When I tell all of you members to be ready to stand up, I mean it," Fain said. "We’re not waiting until Fridays anymore."

Fain's announcement comes after the union significantly expanded what it calls the "Stand Up Strike" by ordering members to walk out of Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant, the automaker's largest and most profitable plant in the world.

As of Friday, roughly 34,000 United Auto Workers' members were on strike against Detroit's Big Three. Nearly 2,000 Ford automakers have been laid off due to the strike, according to the automaker.

So far, the strike has cost the industry $5.5 billion, which includes $579 million in lost wages for workers and $2.6 billion in losses for automakers, according to an economic assessment from East Lansing-based Anderson Economic Group.

The assessment comes as hundreds of workers were laid off from Ford, GM and Stellantis. More than 400 Ford workers were laid off from a Livonia Transmission plant, while 520 Stellantis workers were told not to show up for work at a downriver engine plant. GM also laid off an addition 200 workers.

The historic UAW strike against Detroit's Big Three began on Sept. 8 after the union's contract expired without a new one in place. It's the first time ever the union launched a strike against all three automakers at the same time.