The UAW's strategy of having targeted strikes against the Detroit 3 aims to damage the companies' reputations and "keep them wounded for months," according to private messages written by a top aide to the union's president.
The messages, obtained Thursday by Automotive News, indicate that the union's goal is to extract gains from the automakers by pitting them against each other instead of using the pattern bargaining approach of past negotiations. They were viewed by top executives at the companies and have added to concerns among them that the union hasn't been bargaining in good faith, according to two sources with knowledge of the negotiations.
Stellantis called the comments by UAW Communications Director Jonah Furman, posted in a group chat on the X social media platform, "incredibly disturbing." They were first published Thursday evening by The Detroit News.
Furman did not respond to requests for comment from Automotive News. Reached by The Detroi…