UAW pauses strike expansion after GM makes battery plant concession

Ford workers, who are represented by United Auto Workers, rally outside the Ford assembly plant in the South Deering neighborhood on Sept. 29. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times file)

DETROIT — The United Auto Workers union said Friday it will not expand its strikes against Detroit’s three automakers after General Motors made a breakthrough concession on unionizing electric vehicle battery plants.

The announcement of the pause in adding factories to the strikes came minutes after GM agreed to bring workers at battery factories into the UAW’s national contract, essentially assuring they will represented by the union.