
A | The United Auto Workers union has once again escalated its strikes against big Detroit automakers, this time adding a factory that makes Ram pickup trucks for Stellantis.The union says that 6,800 members walked out Monday morning and shut down the Sterling Heights, Michigan, Assembly Plant, a huge profit center for the company.The newest strike action comes just three days after union President Shawn Fain reported progress in talks with General Motors and Stellantis but said the companies will have to make better offers. No progress was reported with Ford, which last week said it had the best offer of the three.The union went on strike Sept. 15 at one assembly plant from each company. About 40,800 workers are now on strike against all three automakers. The strikes, now in their sixth week, cover seven assembly plants and 38 parts warehouses. About 28% of the union's work force at the three company's are now on strike.General Motors, which increased its offer last week, and Ford were spared in the latest escalation. At first the union avoided striking at pickup and large SUV plants, which at all three produce vehicles that make the most money for the companies. But that changed two weeks ago when the UAW took out a giant Ford heavy-duty pickup and SUV plant in Louisville, Kentucky. In its statement, the union said that offers from Stellantis, formed in the 2021 merger of Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA Groupe, lag Ford and GM despite the automaker having the most revenue and highest profits of the three.Stellantis has the worst offer on cost of living raises, how fast workers move to the top of the pay scale, temporary worker pay, converting temps to full time, and other issues, the union said.By taking down the Stellantis factory, the union is signaling Ford and GM to improve their offers, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said. Last week it appeared a deal might be in the works, but Fain said Friday that the companies will need to pay more.“It takes a potential deal that appeared on the table -- at least for now -- off of it,” Ives said, predicting the the union will announce new strike locations later this week. "There could be some tough talks ahead,” Ives said.On Friday, Fain said Stellantis and GM have made wage offers that matched Ford’s 23% over the life of a four year contract. But, speaking in his characteristic sharp tones, the union president insisted that the companies can go further.“We’ve got cards left to play, and they’ve got money left to spend,” Fain said.While Fain said the companies keep touting that they’ve made record offers to the UAW, he said they’re insufficient to make up for how much ground workers have lost during the past two decades. Each time the automakers make an offer, Fain said, they insist it’s the best they can do, only to return days later with a better offer.“What that should tell you,” Fain said, is that “there’s room to move.”。 SYDNEY -- A Sydney court on Monday postponed an extradition hearing for a former U.S. military pilot accused of illegally training Chinese aviators until May as his lawyers attempt to further build their case.Boston-born Dan Duggan, 55, was scheduled to fight his extradition to the United States at a Nov. 23 hearing in the downtown Downing Center Local Court.But a magistrate decided to use that date to rule on what additional information that the Australian defense department and security agencies should provide defense lawyers.U.S. lawyer Trent Glover told the court the United States was ready to proceed with the extradition, but had agreed with defense lawyers the hearing should take place after November.Duggan’s lawyer, Dennis Miralis, told reporters outside court that the stakes were high for his client, who faces up to 65 years in prison if convicted.“This is existential, which means that every right that Dan has under the Australian legal system on the basis that he’s presumed innocent ... needs to properly and carefully be considered,” Miralis said.Duggan's wife, Saffrine, has said she asked Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to advocate against the extradition when he meets President Joe Biden in Washington this week.But in a news conference on Sunday before departing for the United States, Albanese said Duggan, who became an Australian citizen in 2012, was not on the agenda of his meetings with U.S. officials.“I don’t discuss things that are legal matters on the run, nor should I,” Albanese told reporters.Duggan has been in custody since Oct. 21 last year when he was arrested near his home in Orange, New South Wales.Duggan’s grounds for resisting extradition include his claim that the prosecution is political and that the crime he is accused of does not exist under Australian law. The extradition treaty between the two countries states that a person can only be extradited for an allegation that is recognized by both countries as a crime.Duggan’s lawyers say they expect additional material will demonstrate the overtly political aspects of the extradition request.They claim the former U.S. Marine Corps flying instructor was lured by Australian authorities from China in 2022 so he could be arrested and extradited.Duggan maintains he has done nothing wrong and is an innocent victim of a worsening power struggle between Washington and Beijing.In a 2016 indictment, prosecutors allege Duggan conspired with others to provide training to Chinese military pilots in 2010 and 2012, and possibly at other times, without applying for an appropriate license.Prosecutors say Duggan received about nine payments totaling around 88,000 Australian dollars ($61,000) and international travel from another conspirator for what was sometimes described as “personal development training.”Duggan has said the Chinese pilots he trained while he worked for the Test Flying Academy of South Africa in 2011 and 2012 were civilians, and nothing he taught was classified.。
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