United Auto Workers strike could affect supply in near future

Zumbrota, Minn. (KTTC) – Auto Workers walked out from their jobs Thursday from three different Midwest plants to take part in the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike. The actions have many auto industry members concerned about potential supply shortages in the coming months.

“As we’ve seen over the past few years when things are having a supply chain issue or shutdown issue, things get delayed for months at a time,” Flagship Fastlane Service Manager Mike Burdick said.

UAW leaders say the strike is meant to demand an increase in wages for UAW members, and are seeking a 40% increase in wages. With this work stoppage, supply for not just parts but cars is expected to drop in the coming months.

“If they don’t settle this in a timely fashion, then we will run out of cars and we will not have any cars to sell, and the bad thing is we come off a strike in 2019 and right after that strike was settled, we went into COVID, and COVID had its problems with manufacturing, and were just now getting out of that and here’s this strike.”

With a supply shortage, prices are likely to increase as demand remains high, not just for the new car market but used as well.

“I see the used car market changing, as there are no new cars to buy. The used cars auction prices could go up, so prices could be affected there,” Chambers said.

“Unfortunately, it’s probably going to drive up prices. Because the demand is going to be higher. So, it’s going to be tougher with prices going up and availability going down, and it’s going to make things more challenging for everyone.”

At this point, no deal between the two sides has been reached.

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