Auto strike could bring lost wages, lower spending and higher prices, experts said.
A potential strike at the Big 3 U.General Motors, Ford and Stellantis – would threaten the livelihood of up to 143,000 workers and the bottom line at some of the nation’s top companies.
The economic fallout, however, could extend far beyond the immediate players involved. Businesses may lose out on spending from striking autoworkers. Car component suppliers could grind to a halt. Consumers may decide to balk at higher prices.
A six-week strike would cost the U.S. two-tenths of a percentage point of economic growth over a period of three months ending in December, Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, .
„This is a small impact, but meaningful,“ Zandi added, noting that a potential strike would weaken the U.S. economy as it faces other threats, such as high oil prices, a federal government shutdown and the end of a moratorium on student loan payments.
As the weeks pass and automakers sell through inventory already diminished by a pandemic-era supply bottleneck, car prices could spike, threatening the Federal Reserve’s effort to bring down inflation, Zandi said.
A shorter strike against all three automakers, lasting 10 days, would still cost the U.S. economy $5.6 billion in losses, according to a report released last month by the Anderson Economic Group.
The losses include about $860 million in direct wages foregone by autoworkers as well as nearly $1 billion in missed production – both of which would be exacerbated by the resulting lost economic activity, the report said. Consumers and dealers, the report added, will suffer another $2 billion in losses as car owners delay repairs and sellers lose inventory.
The most significant economic impact would result from the lost wages that potentially tens of thousands of members of the United Autoworkers, or UAW, are set to endure, economists .
„Lost wages directly and immediately affect every household of a UAW worker on strike and their spending power in the economy,“ Tyler Theile, vice president and director of public policy for Anderson Economic Group, .
„Whatever their spending power is today, it would be significantly different tomorrow,“ Theile added. „That’s where the economic impact starts to hit and ripple through the economy.“
Employees participating in the work stoppage are set to receive strike pay of $500 per week, which for many workers would amount to less than half of their previous income. Such workers would be less likely to eat out at a restaurant or go to a movie theater, cutting revenue for those businesses, Gabriel Ehrlich, an economic forecaster at the University of Michigan, .
„Those things add up,“ Ehrlich said.
If the strike stretches for several weeks, workers at companies down the supply chain could suffer from the same dynamic, since lost production would lead to furloughs and diminished income, Erik Gordon, a business professor at the University of Michigan, .
Initially, suppliers of car components like dashboards and sound systems may retain workers in the hope that a quick resolution of the strike would require a surge of activity as the automakers build up lost inventory, Gordon said. Over time, a backup in the supply of such components would trigger a slowdown in production.
„Those suppliers are going to first shut down shifts and then maybe shut down manufacturing all together,“ Gordon said.
A four-week strike against all three automakers would result in 161,000 lost jobs in Michigan alone, according to a report authored by Ehrlich. A long-term strike would cause more than 300,000 job losses in the state, Ehrlich found.
In addition to workers and related businesses, consumers could suffer as dwindling inventory at the automakers leads to higher prices.
Due to the lingering effects of pandemic-era supply chain disruption, the Big 3 automakers hold one-fifth of the inventory that they did in 2019, when a 40-day strike against General Motors rendered little impact, said Theile.
Gordon said supply shortages caused by the strike could lead to a higher sticker prices.
„For consumers, it’s a terrible time to go out and buy a car,“ he said. „If you have to buy a car, one thing is for sure: you’re not going to get any big bargains.“
On Thursday evening, the White House confirmed President Joe Biden had spoken with Shawn Fain, President of UAW, and leaders of the major auto companies to discuss the status of ongoing negotiations.
Biden made the calls as the clock continues to tick down to a possible strike.

Hunter Biden walks to a waiting SUV after arriving at Fort McNair in Washington, DC.
Only time can tell just where the indictments of Hunter Biden on felony gun charges will lead.
The only thing certain so far is that special counsel David Weiss clearly realized he couldn’t let the statute of limitations pass without indicting Hunter again.
Not when an avalanche of whistleblowers and more-reluctant witnesses have testified to how badly Weiss (and/or Attorney General Merrick Garland) botched the serious tax-felony investigation until it was too late to charge.
But how Weiss proceeds to prosecute this case, when in his day job as Delaware district attorney he still ultimately works for the defendant’s father, is a huge mystery.
Hunter’s lawyers, understandably, still want to revive the plea deal that would let him walk.
But the judge already vetoed that “unprecedented” bargain.
The evidence makes it an open-and-shut case: Hunter’s own autobiography shows he was near-constantly drugged-up at the time in question, and if necessary a long parade of witnesses can testify to that.  
Yet he can’t credibly deny signing the federal form claiming he was clean, or telling the gun dealer the same.
And among the many ironies here is that the Secret Service wound up recovering the weapon after Hunter’s then-girlfriend (his late brother’s widow) in a panic tossed it in a dumpster.
Another irony: President Joe Biden routinely crusades on the need for tough gun laws like the ones that could now send his son away for a decade or more.
What does he say in court if Hunter’s lawyers demand that he testify, as they’re now threatening?
Hunter’s case for mercy revolves around claiming that he’s turned his life completely around since: He’s clean, and selling his art for big bucks.
But how stable is he, really?
He’s actually making ends meet with the assistance of a Democratic mega-donor who’s already ponied up hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay off Hunter’s back taxes.
(And the First Son still faces many more potential charges, both for other tax violations and unregistered lobbying for foreign interests.)
This has all added to Joe’s darkening electoral nightmare.
It threatens to all play out in court just as he stumps for re-election while facing mounting calls for him to step aside because of his age and senility. 
A majority of Americans now believe he was involved in his son’s business dealings and 55% say he has acted inappropriately over the investigations into Hunter.
All this after he and his lickspittles strained the tools of the government to cover up for his son, grievously undermining trust in those tools. 
Perhaps finally, this country can begin to regain trust in the rule of law as the Biden chickens come home to roost and Joe learns — years too late — that the cover-up is always worse than the crime.

Caesars Entertainment has joined MGM Resorts International in reporting that it was hit by a cyberattack this week.
Casino company Caesars Entertainment on Thursday joined Las Vegas gambling rival MGM Resorts International in reporting that it was hit by a cyberattack, but added in a report to federal regulators that its casino and online operations were not disrupted.
The Reno-based publicly traded company told the federal Securities and Exchange Commission that it could not guarantee that personal information about tens of millions of customers was secure following a data breach Sept. 7 that may have exposed driver’s license and Social Security numbers of loyalty rewards members.
“We have taken steps to ensure that the stolen data is deleted by the unauthorized actor,” the company said, “although we cannot guarantee this result.”
The Times of Northwest Indiana reported Thursday that Horseshoe Casino in Hammond alerted federal regulators “that the personal information of a ‘significant number’ of Caesars Rewards loyalty club members was copied and stolen in a cyberattack.” Caesars is the parent company of Horseshoe.
Brett Callow, threat analyst for the New Zealand-based cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, said it was not clear if a ransom was paid or who was responsible for the intrusion — and for the attack reported Monday by MGM Resorts.
“Unofficially, we saw a group called Scattered Spider claimed responsibility,” Callow said. “They appear to be native English speakers under the umbrella of a Russia-based operation called ALPHV or BlackCat.”
Caesars is the largest casino owner in the world, with more than 65 million Caesars Rewards members and properties in 18 states and Canada under the Caesars, Harrah’s, Horseshoe and Eldorado brands. It also has mobile and online operations and sports betting. Company officials did not respond to emailed questions from The Associated Press.
The company told the SEC that loyalty program customers were being offered credit monitoring and identity theft protection.
There was no evidence the intruder obtained member passwords or bank account and payment card information, the company reported, adding that operations at casinos and online “have not been impacted by this incident and continue without disruption.”
The disclosure by Caesars came after MGM Resorts International, the largest casino company in Las Vegas, reported publicly on Monday that a cyberattack that it detected Sunday led it to shut down computer systems at its properties across the U.S. to protect data.
MGM Resorts said reservations and casino floors in Las Vegas and other states were affected. Customers shared stories on social media about not being able to make credit card transactions, obtain money from cash machines or enter hotel rooms. Some video slot machines were dark.
MGM Resorts has has about 40 million loyalty rewards members and tens of thousands of hotel rooms in Las Vegas at properties including the MGM Grand, Bellagio, Aria and Mandalay Bay. It also operates properties in China and Macau.
A company report on Tuesday to the SEC pointed to its Monday news release. The FBI said an investigation was ongoing but offered no additional information.
Some MGM Resorts computer systems were still down Thursday, including hotel reservations and payroll. But company spokesman Brian Ahern said its 75,000 employees in the U.S. and abroad were expected to be paid on time.
Callow, speaking by telephone from British Columbia, Canada, called most media accounts of the incidents speculative because information appeared to be coming from the same entities that claim to have carried out the attacks. He said recovery from cyberattacks can take months.
Callow pointed to reports that he called “plausible” that Caesars Entertainment was asked to pay $30 million for a promise to secure its data and may have paid $15 million. He also noted that the company did not describe in the SEC report the steps taken to ensure that the stolen data was secure.
The highest ransom believed to have been paid to cyber-attackers was $40 million by insurance giant CNA Financial, Callow said, following a data breach in March 2021.
“In these cases, organizations basically pay to get a ‘pinky promise,’” he said. “There is no way to actually know that (hackers) do delete (stolen data) or that it won’t be used elsewhere.”