Detroit, September 19 (RHC)-- In the United States, a United Auto Workers strike targeting the Big Three automakers has entered its fifth day.  About 12,700 workers walked off the job on Friday, but the UAW has warned the strike could expand in scope. 

On Sunday, talks resumed between the UAW and representatives of General Motors, Ford and Stellantis.  Over the weekend, Stellantis, which is the parent company of Chrysler, offered workers a 21% pay hike, but UAW President Shawn Fain rejected the offer.  He appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” 

The union leader said: “We’ve asked for 40% pay increases. And the reason we asked for 40% pay increases is because in the last four years alone the CEO pay went up 40%.  They’re already millionaires, you know?  It’s shameful that one of the leaders of one of the corporations is sitting in his second home in Acapulco while we’re bargaining, rather than being at the bargaining table. And so our demands are just. We’re asking for our fair share in this economy and the fruits of our labor.”

Earlier, independent Senator Bernie Sanders traveled to Detroit to speak at a UAW rally, where he decried corporate greed.  Bernie Sanders said:  “And let me thank the UAW for standing up not only for your own members, but for the working class of this country.  The fight you are waging here is not just about decent wages and working conditions and pensions in the automobile industry.  It is a fight to take on corporate greed and tell the people on top, 'This country belongs to all of us, not just a few.'”