As Biden Visits Michigan, Suppliers Announce Possible Layoffs
As President Biden visited striking United Auto Workers members outside Detroit Tuesday, auto suppliers announced potential layoffsand economists warned that a long strike could worsen inflation.
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Whats going on: The president traveled to the striking General Motors Redistribution Center outside Detroit at the invitation of UAW President Shawn Fain, reports. The facility is one of 38 parts and distribution centers across 20 states currently on strike.
- Among the demands of the UAWwhich called for autoworkers to walk away from their posts at plants in Michigan, Ohio and Missouri nearly two weeks agoare sizable pay increases, a 32-hour workweek, a return to traditional pensions and enhanced benefits. 泭
Layoffs: Earlier this week, a Wixom, Michiganbased auto-parts supplier announced that it could lay off a substantial portion of its 171 hourly workers owing to financial hurdles brought about by the UAW strike, the (subscription) reports.泭
- Layoffs and other downsizing could become more common if the strike continues, according to the Detroit Free Press.
- Whats more, in the face of a lengthy, broaden[ed] out strike, the economy could contract almost one full percentage point in the fourth quarter, according to Morgan Stanley economists, which would cut their full-year 2023 GDP growth call to 1.4% from 1.7%, according to (subscription).
