DETROIT - The US auto workers' union launched a targeted strike at three factories just after midnight on Friday, ordering simultaneous stoppages at Detroit's "Big Three" for the first time.
The dramatic walkout -- marked outside a Detroit-area Ford plant with rowdy honking and cheers at the arrival of the United Auto Workers' leader -- came after a last-minute push by General Motors, Ford and Stellantis failed to produce an agreement before the contract's expiration.
"Tonight, for the first time in our history, we will strike all three of the Big Three at once," UAW President Shawn Fain said in a webcast shortly before the September 14 deadline.
Fain said the union would strike at one plant at each company: a GM factory in Wentzville, Missouri; a Stellantis facility in Toledo, Ohio; and a Ford plant in Wayne, Michigan, but only the final assembly and paint operations.
About 12,700 workers were walking off the job Friday, according to UAW estimates. That is only a fraction of the 150,000 auto workers represented by the union.
But it has said the strike could be expanded if the companies don't sweeten the deal -- a strategy embraced by workers.
"They're starting it off right," said Rachel Judd, who joined the post-midnight rally in Wayne, Michigan in solidarity. Judd works at Ford's neighboring facility in Livonia.
"If negotiations don't keep moving forward, more plants will be added," she said.