The Big Three Automakers Are Bracing Their Auto Parts Centers for a Likely Strike
The United Auto Workers are rapidly approaching a potential strike with the Big Three automakers. The companies want to minimize disruption by stockpiling inventory at their parts distribution centers — and staffing them with nonunion workers who may scab.
Demonstrators during a United Auto Workers practice picket outside the Stellantis Mack Assembly Plant in Detroit, Michigan, US, on August 23, 2023. (Jeff Kowalsky / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The automakers General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis are hurtling toward a showdown with United Auto Workers (UAW) as contract talks approach the September 14 strike deadline.
As the Big Three automakers scramble to make contingency plans, they are shining a spotlight on one specific part of the supply chain: the parts distribution centers (PDCs) that supply after-sales spare parts and accessories to dealerships.
In August, reports leaked that Ford was preparing to deploy 1,200 nonunion salaried employees to PDCs, or as Ford calls them, high velocity centers (HVCs).
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