Could Northeast Ohio feel the impact of the UAW strike against automakers?

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - It’s day two of the UAW’s targeted strike against Detroit’s big three automakers, and here at home we are still waiting to find out if Northeast Ohio will be the next to strike.

The big question, what could be the impact if the strike stretches into weeks and months?

Trey Hoobler is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer for Ceres Technology. The company aims to solve supply chain challenges by predicting disruptions, “Because of this strike there’s going to be a tremendous backlog in slowing the supply chain.”

Hoobler says in the end consumers could feel the pinch of the strike in their wallets, “There will be a wave of events in the future that could impact the prices of new cars, the distribution of news cars in the sense of when are they going to be distributed?”

Supply chain issues for the auto industry hit a huge bump in the road during COVID, and experts say all the issues still haven’t fully been resolved, “In 2020, during the COVID crisis, there was a chip, a microchip shortage. Both Ford and GM alike lost a lot of revenue because they could not send enough cars out into the market to be sold.”

The longer the strike goes on suppliers may be forced to layoff their own works. 80% of cars parts manufactured in Mexico are imported to the U.S., 90% of car parts made in Canada are imported to the United States, and 50% of Taiwan’s auto parts are also shipped to the U.S., Hoobler says, “It will have a ripple effect.”

UAW families in Toledo prepared to be on the strike line for the long-haul, have in some cases brought their children to the picket line so they have an understanding of what’s at stake, an unidentified work said, “I want them to stand up for what’s right, what’s fair and what they deserve.”

A rally of support will be held on Sunday, September 17, for United Auto Worker’s here in Northeast Ohio. People will meet on Sunday at the UAW Hall and will be shuttled to the rally scheduled to begin around 1:00pm.

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