Detroit Auto Show 2023 This Year Is Different, Taking Place In The Midst Of Anxiety

Campus Martius Park in downtown Detroit. (Doc. NAIAS)

JAKARTA - There is a different atmosphere from the implementation of the North American International Detroit Auto Show (NAIAS) 2023 this time, one of the world's main automotive exhibitions is shrouded in anxiety and fear.

The North American International Detroit Auto Show 2023 began on September 13, actually starting with an exciting opening event including the Darius Rucker concert sponsored by Ford Motor and an indoor test track built by Jeep featuring a hill with a tilt of 40 degrees.

However, since the start of the exhibition as reported by Reuters to date, September 18, three major American automakers, who are the main supporters of the exhibition, have been stuck in endless contract negotiations with unions representing nearly 150,000 employees.

The United Auto Workers Union (UAW) has launched simultaneous strikes at three major factories owned by General Motors (GM), Ford, and Stellantis. This action began the strike of the largest industrial worker for decades in the United States.

Also reported in the past decade, General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis, have emerged as automotive companies with huge profits. This year alone, the three automakers reported a record or nearly set a record. And all three have agreed to offer a wage increase of about half that was requested by the union, but most of UAW's demands have been rejected.

The union demands include improved pensions, shorter working week, health care paid by the company as retirees, and an end to the wage system where new employees are only paid about half of the union's top wage of 32 US dollars or IDR 492 thousand per hour.

Reported by international CNN, September 16, UAW President Shawn Fain indicated on Friday evening that both sides still had very different opinions towards the weekend, stating that 80% of the trade union's demands had been ignored.

This strike has halted production of several vehicles, spread throughout the automotive supply chain, and has had a broad impact and jeopardized the plans of the three automotive manufacturers to launch new vehicles amid the high momentum of global demand.