UAW strike, Day 4: GM threatens to send 2,000 workers home, Ford cuts 600 jobs

As the autoworkers strike enters Day 4, the two sides are digging in.

On one side are United Auto Workers members, who say record corporate profits should yield a record contract.

"We went backwards roughly $10 an hour in wages over the last six years," UAW President Shawn Fain told NPR. "At the same time, in the last decade, these companies have made a quarter-trillion dollars in profits."

On the other are the Big Three automakers — General Motors, Ford and Stellantis — which say they have put historically generous offers on the table, while also emphasizing that there are limits.

"Our goal is to secure a sustainable future that provides all our UAW-represented employees with an opportunity to thrive in a company that will be competitive during the automotive industry's historic transformation," Stellantis said in a statement.

Fain told Morning Edition on Monday that the union had "minimal conversations" with all three companies over the weekend and that the ball is still in their court.

Fain said the union wanted to start substantively bargaining two months ago, but the companies waited until just before their contracts expired last week to "actually start really talking."