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On Point | Podcast

Do electric vehicles mean the end of the U.S. auto industry as we know it?

On Point | Podcast

WBUR

Talk Show, Daily News, News, Npr, On Point, Daily

4.23.5K Ratings

🗓️ 27 September 2023

⏱️ 48 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Electric vehicles are the elephants in the room as the United Auto Workers strike for better pay and benefits. In an electric future, can unionized auto industry jobs survive? Jack Ewing, Stephen Silvia and Jason Walsh join Meghna Chakrabarti.

Transcript

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0:00.0

It's nearing two weeks since members of the United Auto Workers Union went on strike

0:05.5

against the big three Detroit automakers, Ford, GM, and Stellantis, the Netherlands-based

0:11.2

conglomerate that acquired Chrysler in 2021.

0:15.2

And yesterday, President Joe Biden showed up in Wayne County, Michigan, the first time

0:20.5

a sitting president has ever joined a picket line.

0:23.8

You guys, UAW, you see the automobile industry back in 2008 and Ford made a lot of

0:31.3

sacrifices, gave up a lot, and the companies were in trouble, and now they're doing it

0:37.1

incredibly well.

0:38.6

And guess what?

0:39.6

You should be doing it incredibly well, too.

0:42.6

The stuff is really good.

0:44.7

UAW workers say they're on strike because wages have stagnated and benefits like pension

0:49.7

funds are shrinking or have been eliminated.

0:52.8

They say they're on strike to protect and strengthen what has historically been one

0:57.0

of America's most recognizable, solidly middle-class jobs.

1:02.6

But there's a deeper shift in the auto industry also at play here.

1:07.4

We clearly see an all-electric future.

1:10.7

GM CEO Mary Barrow was on MSNBC last month, reiterating the carmaker's commitment to

1:16.4

eventually transform its entire fleet to electric vehicles.

1:20.6

GM has said it will stop making internal combustion vehicles altogether by 2035.

1:26.6

And we're putting the technology plans in place.

1:29.0

We just revealed the new Cadillac Escalade IQ, that's part of that journey that I'm really

...

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