Ford and General Motors are laying off a combined 500 workers as the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike enters its third week.
General Motors announced it was laying off 164 workers in Ohio and Indiana, CNN reported. The carmaker blamed the ongoing strike for the job losses.
“We have said repeatedly that nobody wins in a strike, and this is yet another demonstration of that fact,” GM said in a statement. “We will continue to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.”
The new layoffs come after GM already laid off more than 1,800 workers in Kansas and New York.
Ford laid off 330 workers in Chicago after the union decided to strike the Chicago Assembly plant.
“Our production system is highly interconnected, which means the UAW’s targeted strike strategy has knock-on effects for facilities that are not directly targeted for a work stoppage,” Ford said in a statement.
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Ford previously laid off 600 workers in Michigan who were not on strike in a move the union said was an attempt to “put the squeeze on our members to settle for less.”
“With their record profits, they don’t have to lay off a single employee,” the union said. “Their plan won’t work. The UAW will make sure any worker laid off in the Big Three’s latest attack will not go without an income.”
The union is currently paying strikers $500 a week in strike benefits, according to CNN. The roughly 3,000 members who were laid off will also get $500 a week.
Former President Donald Trump recently warned UAW members that a favorable deal wouldn’t “make a damn bit of difference” because “in two years, you’re all going to be out of business” due to the shift toward electric vehicles.
“Now they want to go all-electric and put you all out of business. Biden’s mandate isn’t a government regulation; it’s a government assassination of your jobs and of your industry. The auto industry is being assassinated,” Trump insisted.
