The battle for electric vehicles is at the heart of the auto strike

Automakers are keen to keep costs low while ramping up electric vehicle manufacturing, while strikers want to preserve jobs as industry shifts to batteries.

A battle between Detroit automakers and the United Auto Workers union, which intensified Friday with targeted strikes on three sites, takes place in the midst of a once-in-a-century technological upheaval that poses enormous risks to both business and the union.

The strike comes as traditional automakers are investing billions to develop electric vehicles while making most of their money from gasoline vehicles. cars. The negotiations will determine the balance of power between labor and management, perhaps for years to come. This makes the strike a fight as much for the future of the industry as it is for wages, benefits and working conditions.

Established automakers — General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, which owns Chrysler, Jeep and Ram – are trying to defend their profits and market position in the face of fierce competition from Tesla and foreign automakers. Some executives and analysts have called what's happening in the industry the biggest technological transformation since Henry Ford's moving assembly line began in the early 20th century.

Nearly 13,000 U.A.W. Workers walked off the job Friday at three plants in Ohio, Michigan and Missouri after negotiations between unions and companies in three separate negotiations failed to produce an agreement before a Thursday deadline. Wages are one of the main sticking points: The union is demanding a 40 percent wage increase over four years, but automakers have offered about half that amount.

But negotiations are underway. much more than the salary. Workers are trying to defend their jobs as the manufacturing industry shifts from internal combustion engines to batteries. Because they have fewer parts, electric cars can be made with fewer workers than gasoline vehicles. A favorable outcome for the U.A.W. It would also give the union a strong calling card if, as some expect, it next tries to unionize employees at Tesla and other non-union automakers like Hyundai, which plans to make electric vehicles at a new factory massive in Georgia.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“The transition to electric vehicles dominates every moment of this discussion,” said John Casesa, senior managing director at investment firm Guggenheim Partners , who previously led strategy at Ford Motor.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“It’s not said,” Mr. Casesa added. "But in reality, it's about positioning the union to play a central role in the new electricity industry."

Under pressure from government officials and shifting consumer demand, Ford, G.M. and Stellantis are investing billions to revamp their sprawling operations to build electric vehicles, critical to the fight against climate change. But they make little or no profit on these vehicles, while Tesla, which dominates electric car sales, is profitable and growing rapidly.

Ford said in July that its electric vehicle business would lose $4.5 billion this year. If the union got all the pay raises, pensions and other benefits it demands, the company said, its workers' total compensation would be twice that of Tesla employees.

Image Detroit Auto Show attendees look at a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV in Detroit last week. Discussions of the auto workers' strike dominated the show. Credit...Brittany Greeson for The New York Times