US auto workers' union boss says strikes will continue in bid for better offers from companies

abcnews.go.com:

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said Friday that while Detroit’s automakers have increased their wage and benefit offers, he believes the union can gain more if it holds out longer in its contract talks

DETROIT — United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said Friday that while Detroit’s automakers have increased their wage and benefit offers, he believes the union can gain more if it holds out longer in contract talks.

In a Facebook Live appearance, Fain didn’t announce any more factories to add to those that have been on strike for up to five weeks. But he warned that the UAW could announce such an expansion of its strikes at any time, depending on how much progress it makes in its negotiations with the automakers.

In the past 24 hours, Fain said, Stellantis and GM have made wage offers that matched Ford’s 23% over the life of a four year contract. But, speaking in his characteristic sharp tones, the union president insisted that the companies can go further.

“We’ve got cards left to play, and they’ve got money left to spend,” he said.

Arguing that Ford “pretends they can’t afford what we’re asking for,” Fain noted that the company has complained about the union's walkout at the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, which has had to shut down. That plant is the largest and most profitable Ford factory in the world.

“We took their biggest plant out and they haven’t come back with anything new,” he said.

Though Fain said the UAW will make a push to secure more generous offers from the automakers, he addressed union members who have said they're ready to vote on the deals. Fain asserted that the companies are trying to divide the union.

“They just want to wait us out,” he said. «They want to divide. They want fear