LINCOLNSHIRE, England—Staff at Lincat in Lincoln are on strike over pay conditions once more, this time for a month. Employees from the commercial kitchen appliance manufacturer on Whisby Road in Lincoln previously walked out for a week at the start of September, demanding an inflation-matching rise of 9.7%.

SELMER, TN—In August 2023, GE Appliances, a Haier company, announced a $34 million investment to expand refrigeration manufacturing and create 150 new jobs at its wholly-owned subsidiary, Monogram Refrigeration, in Selmer, Tennessee. 

I’m all for auto workers getting paid, but the UAW’s demands this time around seem a bit much. I can’t see how the OEMs will be able to meet them, and I worry about the implications for the economy. The 2019 strike lasted more than a month, and a prolonged strike now could jeopardize the economic recovery.

LOS ALTOS, CA—Engineers at the Toyota Research Institute are using generative AI technology to quickly teach robots new, dexterous skills.

DAYTON, OH—Joby Aviation Inc. plans to build a $500 million factory here to produce electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

STOCKHOLM—STILFOLD has formed a strategic partnership with Alstom to make train manufacturing more environmentally sustainable.

SHARONSVILLE, OH—The Sharonville Ford transmission assembly plant is the second-largest in the world. It is indispensable in Ford's supply chain, making it a potential target as negotiations between the automakers and workers reach the next phase.

KANSAS CITY, KS—The Fairfax assembly plant, in northeast KCK along the Missouri River, produces the Chevy Malibu sedan and the Cadillac XT4 crossover SUV. It employs 2,234 people, according to a company website. 

WAYNE, MI—The Michigan Assembly Plant plant layoffs impact workers in the body construction portion of the plant, as well as the south sub-assembly area of the integrated stamping operation. According to the automaker, this move comes as a direct result of the UAW strike, even for operations that aren’t directly connected to the union’s actions.

DETROIT, MI—The United Auto Workers union is putting pressure on Detroit’s Big Three by threatening to expand its strike unless it sees significant progress in contract negotiations by Friday.