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The California minimum wage for fast-food workers is on track to rise to $20 an hour next April.
The pay hike is part of deal between the restaurant industry and labor groups over controversial legislation in California.
From 2025 through 2029, a nine-person council will have the authority to raise the hourly minimum wage annually for affected businesses.

Flags are flown at a car caravan and rally of fast food workers and supporters for passage of AB 257, a fast-food worker health and safety bill, on April 16, 2021 in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images

Fast-food workers in California are set to receive pay hikes next year after the restaurant industry and unions reached a compromise over a controversial bill.
The deal, brokered with the help of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office, also creates a nine-person council that will decide on future wage hikes for the fast-food industry in California through 2029. The agreement ends a fight between the two sides that threatened to stretch out for years. The restaurant industry was gearing up to spend more than $100 million on the battle.

The deal will mean a wage floor of $20 for California workers of fast-food chains with at least 60 locations nationwide, starting April 1. And from 2025 through 2029, the appointed council will have the authority to raise the hourly minimum wage annually by whichever is lower: 3.5% or the annual change in the consumer price index.
The council will include four representatives from the fast-food industry, four from the workers’ side and one neutral party who will serve as chair.
While fast-food operators will have to cope with paying higher wages, the agreement thwarts more dire consequences, according to industry analysts.
“I certainly wouldn’t say it’s catastrophic, and certainly not as bad as it could have played out over the next year or two,” said Mark Kalinowski, CEO of Kalinowski Equity Research.
Now California lawmakers are rushing to conclude the matter before the legislative session ends midnight Friday. Newsom has already pledged to sign the bill into law.

California’s fast food fight

Newsom signed AB 257, also known as the FAST Act, into law in January. The legislation would have created a 10-person council that would govern fast-food chains with more than 60 locations, including setting guidelines for working conditions and wages. The initial wage hike could have been as high as $22 an hour.
But the fast-food industry was attacking the bill before it even made its way to Newsom’s desk. State records show that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Chick-fil-A, Yum Brands and Restaurant Brands International were among the chains that spent money to lobby California lawmakers to oppose the legislation.
McDonald’s U.S. President Joe Erlinger wrote a letter posted on the company’s website, making a rare public statement on a political issue. Erlinger called the bill “lopsided” and “ill-considered,” attacking lawmakers for not targeting all restaurants. As of 2022, just under 10% of McDonald’s U.S. restaurants were located in California, according to Citi Research. Most are run by franchisees.

A ‘Join Our Team’ sign is displayed outside a Chipotle location, listing employee benefits, on June 2, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images News | Getty Images

The restaurant industry retaliated, gathering enough signatures to create a referendum that would make California’s voters decide on the matter. The Service Employees International Union, which backed the FAST Act, alleged in a lawsuit that the industry misled signatories, but a judge ruled against the union. The referendum was supposed to be on November 2024 ballots.
In response to the referendum, the SEIU backed another bill, AB 1228. The bill would impose joint-employer liability on franchised businesses — including the very restaurant chains that loudly decried AB 257.
Under the bill, franchisors like McDonald’s would be held liable for infractions committed by their franchisees. Opponents said that the bill attacked the very nature of the franchising model. AB 1228’s provisions were originally included in AB 257 but removed before Newsom signed it into law.
The California State Assembly passed AB 1228 in early June. But the state’s senate never had the chance to vote on that version.
Instead, the restaurant industry and the unions struck a deal, replacing the joint-employer provisions with the terms of their agreement, which also includes repealing the FAST Act and withdrawing the referendum by Jan. 1.

What’s next for workers?

Fast-food workers employed by affected restaurants will see pay increases of as much as 25% hit their paychecks starting in April. The current California minimum wage is $15.50 an hour, with a bump to $16 set for January.
Employees of smaller fast-food joints and other restaurants could also reap some benefits from the legislation.
“When you look at the $20 minimum wage, that’s a bar that’s being set,” Joe Pawlak, managing principal of restaurant consulting firm Technomic, told CNBC. “That’s gonna make the restaurant industry a lot more competitive for employees, so other industries are going to have to also step up.”
In recent years, Amazon warehouses and retailers like Walmart and Target have lured workers away with higher hourly pay. Now they’ll be forced to compete with fast-food chains, which have traditionally been slower to raise wages due to operators’ razor-thin margins.

When you look at the $20 minimum wage, that’s a bar that’s being set.

Joe Pawlak
Technomic managing principal

Other states, like Minnesota or New York, could also follow California’s lead and craft similar councils to govern restaurants or other industries, Pawlak said.
“[The deal] puts a model in place with a structure that everybody is able to digest,” he said.
Still, labor’s side had to make some tradeoffs to make the deal in California. One key concession is that the council won’t have the power to set working conditions. Instead, the Fast Food Council will only be able to recommend proposed standards to state agencies.
But that doesn’t mean that unions won’t keep trying to push for better conditions.
“Fast-food workers’ fight in California isn’t close to over — it has only just begun as they prepare to take their seat at the table and help transform their industry for the better,” SEIU President Mary Kay Henry said in a statement to CNBC.

What does it mean for restaurants?

Faced with a mandate to pay higher wages, fast-food operators will have to decide how they plan to deal with higher labor costs. Some may raise menu prices, although customers may balk at having to foot the bill. Others may try to make do with fewer workers on hand or to invest in automation to handle more tasks.
But it’s not all gloomy for restaurants.
“This agreement protects local restaurant owners from significant threats that would have made it difficult to continue to operate in California. It provides a more predictable and stable future for restaurants, workers, and consumers,” Sean Kennedy, executive vice president of public affairs for the National Restaurant Association, said in a statement.

A Delta Airlines plane lands as people gather in the parking lot of In-N-Out Burger next to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on August 31, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images

The chief uncertainty resolved by the deal is the referendum slated for November 2024 ballots. The industry had already spent more than $64 million on the referendum, according to California records, and was preparing to spend much more. But it would be difficult to predict which side voters would take.
“[The agreement] shows just how concerned the industry was,” Kalinowski said. “The referendum would have been very challenging, to have it come out their way.”
On top of that, restaurant chains like In-N-Out now save some cash that otherwise would have gone toward the industry’s war chest.
The deal also avoids the change to joint-employer liability that was feared by the broader franchising industry.
“This allows the franchise model to exist,” said Dana Kravetz, a Los Angeles-based labor attorney at Michelman & Robinson.
Fast-food companies with heavily franchised footprints, like McDonald’s, KFC, Taco Bell and Domino’s Pizza, will largely escape the effects of bill, unless they have company-owned locations in California. Instead, their franchisees will have to grapple with how to pay higher wages.
Restaurant companies that don’t franchise will have to foot the bill for increased labor costs themselves. That includes Chipotle Mexican Grill, which has 457 locations — or 14% of its total footprint — in its home state of California. More

Thousands of United Auto Workers members went on strike at three key plants, after Detroit automakers failed to reach deals with the union by a Thursday night deadline.
The facilities are GM’s midsize truck and full-size van plant in Wentzville, Missouri; Ford’s Ranger midsize pickup and Bronco SUV plant in Wayne, Michigan; and Stellantis’ Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio.
About 12,700 workers will be on strike, the union said. The UAW represents about 146,000 workers at Ford, GM and Stellantis.

DETROIT – Thousands of members of the United Auto Workers went on strike at three U.S. assembly plants of General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, after the union and the automakers failed to reach a deal on a new labor contract Thursday night.
“The UAW Stand Up Strike begins at all three of the Big Three,” the union said in a post on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, just after midnight Friday.

The facilities are GM’s midsize truck and full-size van plant in Wentzville, Missouri; Ford’s Ranger midsize pickup and Bronco SUV plant in Wayne, Michigan; and Stellantis’ Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator plant in Toledo, Ohio. For Ford, UAW President Shawn Fain said only workers in paint and final assembly will be on strike.
“We got to do what we got to do to get our share of economic and social justice in this strike,” Fain said outside the Ford facility in Wayne. “We’re going to be out here until we get our share of economic justice. And it doesn’t matter how long it takes.”
The selected plants produce highly profitable vehicles for the automakers that largely continue to be in high demand. About 12,700 workers – 5,800 at Stellantis, 3,600 at GM and 3,300 at Ford – will be on strike at the plants in total, the union said. The UAW represents about 146,000 workers across Ford, GM and Stellantis.

UAW President Shawn Fain, center, talks to reporters as union members strike outside a Ford plant in Wayne, Michigan, Sept. 15, 2023.
CNBC | Michael Wayland

“If they come to the pump and they take care of their workers, we’ll be back to work,” Fain said early Friday, referring to the automakers. “But if they don’t, we’ll keep amping it up.”
The union selected the plants as part of targeted strike plans initially announced Wednesday night by Fain, who has unconventionally been negotiating with all three automakers at once and has been reluctant to compromise much on the union’s demands.

Read more: General Motors sweetens its offer to include 20% wage increase
Targeted strikes typically focus on key plants that can then cause other plants to cease production due to a lack of parts. They are not unprecedented, but the way Fain plans to conduct the work stoppages is not typical. They include initiating targeted strikes at select plants and then potentially increasing the number of strikes based on the status of the negotiations. Selecting assembly plants for such strikes is also unique.
“For the first time in our history, we will strike all three of the ‘Big Three’ at once,” Fain said just after 10 p.m. ET Thursday in live remarks streamed on Facebook and YouTube. “We are using a new strategy, the ‘stand-up’ strike. We will call on select facilities, locals or units to stand up and go on strike.”
Fain has referred to the union’s plans as a “stand-up strike,” a nod to historic “sit-down” strikes by the UAW in the 1930s.
Key proposals from the union have included 40% hourly pay increases, a reduced 32-hour workweek, a shift back to traditional pensions, the elimination of compensation tiers and a restoration of cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), among other items on the table including enhanced retiree benefits and enhanced vacation and family leave benefits.
By late Thursday, it was clear there wouldn’t be a deal, even as President Joe Biden got involved. The White House said Biden, who boasts of his blue-collar background and support for organized labor, talked with Fain and the leaders of the Detroit automakers. The president was set to make public remarks on the strike Friday.
Ford, in a statement Thursday night, said the UAW presented its “first substantive counterproposal” to four of the company’s offers, but it “showed little movement from the union’s initial demands.”
“If implemented, the proposal would more than double Ford’s current UAW-related labor costs, which are already significantly higher than the labor costs of Tesla, Toyota and other foreign-owned automakers in the United States that utilize non-union-represented labor,” Ford said. “The union made clear that unless we agreed to its unsustainable terms, it plans a work stoppage at 11:59 p.m. eastern.”
General Motors CEO Mary Barra said Friday morning that she was “extremely frustrated and disappointed” about the strike.
The automakers have made record proposals that address some of the UAW’s ambitious demands but not all of them. Specifically, the companies have offered wage increases of roughly 20%, COLA, altered profit-sharing bonuses, and enhanced vacation and family leave enhancements that the union has found inadequate.
“We didn’t need to be here,” Barra told CNBC’s Phil LeBeau. More

For the first time ever, vaccines for Covid, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus are now available in the U.S. 
Most people only need to consider whether they should get the newly approved updated Covid shot and flu vaccine at the same time, which is perfectly safe and effective.
Meanwhile, only adults 60 and older are eligible for a new RSV vaccine, which means they have to juggle all three shots this fall.

Pharmacist Ani Martirosyan administers an immunization to a patient at a CVS on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023 in Glendale, CA. 
Brian Van Der Brug | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

For the first time ever, vaccines for Covid, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus are available in the U.S. 
Public health officials are urging eligible Americans to take all three shots so the nation can avoid another “tripledemic” of Covid, flu and RSV, which inundated hospitals last fall and winter. But the fact that some people can now receive three shots has raised questions about whether they should take the jabs all at once or space them out.

Most people only need to consider whether they should get an updated Pfizer or Moderna Covid shot and a flu vaccine at the same time, since both are broadly available to all Americans. Public health officials, physicians and recent research show that taking them during the same visit to the doctor or pharmacy is perfectly safe and effective. 
Meanwhile, the roughly 76.5 million adults ages 60 and older are eligible for a new RSV vaccine from Pfizer or GSK, which means they have to juggle all three shots this fall. A maternal vaccine from Pfizer protects infants against RSV, but that shot isn’t available just yet.
Health experts told CNBC that they don’t expect any issues with taking all three shots at once.
Still, other experts note that there is little research on administering an RSV shot with another vaccine, or on giving all three shots together. People can choose to take the RSV jab if they’re more comfortable with that, and do the other two at another time.  
The choice is ultimately up to the individual and what they believe is most ideal for them, and they should feel free to consult their doctors if they’re unsure, health experts said. 

“There hasn’t been any evidence that there is any risk of getting all three at the same time,” Dr. Ali Alhassani, a physician at Boston Children’s Hospital, told CNBC. He noted that administering multiple vaccines isn’t unusual since children often receive up to five routine immunizations at once. 
Similarly, Dr. Andrew Pekosz, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said he doesn’t “want people to think there will be any problems with taking them together because there probably isn’t.”
But he also noted that “without data, I don’t want to go completely over the top and give a really firm recommendation that everyone should get all three at the same time.”

The benefits of taking Covid, flu, RSV shots together

Taking all three shots simultaneously could be ideal for people who may not have the time to make the multiple trips. “By far the biggest benefit of getting all three together is convenience,” Alhassani said. 
Some research even shows that many people don’t come back when they have to take a second shot, according to Johns Hopkins’ Pekosz. 
For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends two to three doses of an HPV vaccine for certain Americans. But studies have shown that uptake of HPV shots declines between the first and subsequent doses.
The U.S. encountered a similar issue during the first Covid vaccine rollout in 2020 and 2021. Many Americans missed their second primary series dose. 
“It’s clear that if people have to go back to the pharmacy on two different occasions, there’s always an attrition rate,” Pekosz told CNBC. “So, it’s better to get them in your arm during the same visit rather than not getting the second one because you get too busy to go back.”
Pharmacies allow Americans to schedule multiple vaccine appointments in one visit. For instance, Kroger’s online scheduling tool allows eligible people to select up to three vaccines to take at once.
People who use that tool and help from Kroger’s clinicians, pharmacists and physician assistants to determine which vaccines are appropriate for them and whether they should take them at the same time, Dr. Marc Watkins, Kroger Health’s chief medical officer, told CNBC. 

What to do if you want to space vaccines out 

Some people may prefer to wait for data to come out before they take all three shots together. Others may also choose to take the vaccines separately for their physical comfort, according to Alhassani from Boston Children’s Hospital. 
One of the most common side effects of getting a vaccine is inflammation or soreness at the injection site, he noted. That’s why people who need to take two shots during the same doctor’s visit usually get one in each arm. 
But Alhassani said some people may not want to feel the discomfort of getting three shots at the same time, either in one arm or two. That’s especially the case for people who usually engage in activities that require them to move their arms a lot. 
“If you play sports and have a big game coming up or you’re a teacher who writes a lot on the chalkboard or white board, you use your shoulders and arms a lot,” he said. “So for practical reasons, you might want to say, ‘OK, I only want my left shoulder to be sore today and again next week rather than having it very sore today.'” 
If people do choose to take the three shots separately, they should get their updated Covid vaccine as soon as possible, their RSV shot soon after and their flu jab last, according to Pekosz.
He specifically recommended taking them one week apart from each other, saying that with “more space between them, the more likely people aren’t going back.” 
Pekosz based the order of the vaccines on how widely those respiratory viruses are currently spreading in the U.S. 
The updated Covid shot should be the No. 1 priority because the virus is already spreading at higher levels. Covid hospitalizations increased for the seventh straight week in the U.S., hitting 17,418 as of the week ended Aug. 26, according to the latest data from the CDC. 
RSV cases also are starting to inch up. Last week, the CDC alerted doctors about an increase in RSV activity across some parts of the Southeast. Regional increases have usually predicted the beginning of RSV season nationally, the CDC wrote in an advisory notice. 
Meanwhile, Pekosz said “we still aren’t really seeing any influenza yet.” 
He noted that people can also take their Covid and flu shots at the same time and get their RSV vaccine a week later.  “That way, we’re following all the science that’s out there supporting co-administration,” he told CNBC.  More

The United Auto Workers union is preparing to conduct targeted strikes against the Detroit automakers if the sides fail to reach new deals by 11:59 p.m. ET.
UAW President Shawn Fain called the plans “historic,” but there are potential risks regarding what the union is calling “stand-up” strikes.
The targeted strikes could have unintended ripple effects for members and open the door for the companies to hire permanent replacement workers and even conduct plant lockouts.

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain greets workers at the Stellantis Sterling Heights Assembly Plant, to mark the beginning of contract negotiations in Sterling Heights, Michigan, U.S. July 12, 2023.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters

DETROIT – The United Auto Workers union is preparing to conduct unprecedented, targeted strikes against Ford Motor, General Motors and Stellantis if the sides fail to reach new deals by 11:59 p.m. ET Thursday.
Targeted, or bottleneck, strikes are an alternative to national actions in which the union only strikes select plants. They’re different from when members walk out of all factories and onto picket lines, like what occurred four years ago during the last round of UAW negotiations with General Motors.

Targeted strikes typically focus on key plants that can then cause other plants to cease production due to a lack of parts. They are not unprecedented, but the way UAW President Shawn Fain plans to conduct the work stoppages is not typical. They include initiating targeted strikes at select plants and then potentially increasing the number of strikes based on the status of the negotiations.
“We will strike all three companies, a historic first, initially at a limited number of targeted locations that we will be announcing. Then, based on what’s happening in bargaining, we’re going to announce more locals that are going to be called to stand up and strike,” Fain said Wednesday during a Facebook Live.
Fain referred to the union’s plans as a “stand-up strike,” a nod to historic “sit-down” strikes by the UAW in the 1930s.
While “historic,” the targeted strikes could have unintended ripple effects. It’s not clear how one plant will impact on others. The actions could also potentially send non-striking union members to unemployment lines, if their state allows them to collect any benefits due to being out of work as a result of a strike.

What about lockouts?

The stoppages also more easily open the door for the companies to hire permanent replacement workers and even conduct plant lockouts, according to labor experts.

The UAW’s strategy puts “some heat on the companies,” but it also gives the companies “much more ability” to use such tactics, said Dennis Devaney, senior counsel at Clark Hill who formerly served as a board member of the National Labor Relations Board.

Read more about the Detroit labor showdown

“I think that obviously is not a good thing from the UAW’s perspective,” said Devaney, who also formerly served as an attorney for GM and Ford.
Plant lockouts, in which companies don’t allow workers into a facility, are more common overseas than in the U.S., but they have occurred.
For example, there was roughly a 10-month lockout of workers at an Exxon Mobil refinery in Texas that ended last year upon union ratification of a new agreement. The company said it was done in response to a strike notice issued by the union during negotiations in January 2021 for a new contract.
Automakers, however, may want to continue producing parts and vehicles at plants for as long as they can in the event of the strikes intensifying, especially following years of supply chain disruptions due to parts shortages and the coronavirus pandemic.
There are “significant, important factors” that companies need to take into account to determine if such “actions might be legal and appropriate,” said Jeffrey S. Kopp, a corporate labor attorney with 26 years of experience and a partner at Foley & Lardner.
The UAW knows lockouts are an option, citing “everything’s on the table” for both sides if it comes to striking under the expired deals, said a person familiar with the union’s plans.

Expired deals

The UAW hasn’t conducted a strike like this before because under terms of the union’s national contracts with the Detroit automakers, strikes at individual plants must be over local contracts, not national issues. But Fain said the UAW will strike at local plants over national issues.
(For context, the UAW as an organization has an “international” unit that operates a leader, or umbrella, for local UAW units that all have their own contracts in addition to a national agreement.)
Typically, such actions would be breach of the contracts and could lead to litigation or a complaint with the NLRB. In 1998, for example, GM filed a lawsuit against the UAW claiming a bottleneck strike at two Michigan plants that affected dozens of other company facilities was illegal.

However, according to the union, this rule no longer matters because members are working under expired contracts that nullify those terms.
Ben Dictor, who serves as legal counsel for the UAW, said most of contracts such as wages and working conditions are still in effect but the “no strike, no lockout clause” expires. That means the union can strike, but it also opens the door for the companies to potentially lock out workers.
“As part of the stand-up strike, some of us will be working without a contract. This is an essential part of our strategy to keep the companies off balance by calling locals out on strike based on what is happening in negotiations,” Dictor said in a video posted online Thursday by the union. “That will keep them guessing and turbocharge your national negotiators in bargaining with the big three.”

Strike fund

Conducting targeted strikes can be complex, as it’s not clear how one plant will impact on others. The actions could potentially send non-striking union members to unemployment lines, if their state allows them to collect any benefits due to being out of work as a result of a strike.
Targeted strikes also will save the union cash, as it won’t have to give “strike pay” to as many members from its $825 million strike fund.
The fund pays each eligible member $500 per week, which would mean it has enough cash for roughly 11 weeks if all members went on strike. However, that doesn’t include health-care costs that the union would cover, such as temporary COBRA plans, which would likely drain the fund far more quickly.
When asked about the ability for the strike fund to support the union, Fain has regularly referred to how past union leaders conducted work stoppages without pay and how UAW members need to stick together.
“Nobody’s coming to save us. Nobody can win this fight for us. Our greatest hope, and or only hope is with each other, standing together,” Fain said. “I’ll tell you this, I’m at peace with a decision to strike if we have to because I know that we’re on the right side of this battle.” More

GM offered the United Auto Workers a sweetened deal that includes 20% wage increases.
The union plans targeted strikes if it cannot reach labor deals with the major Detroit automakers by 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra talks with reporters following a meeting with lawmakers from Michigan and Ohio at the U.S. Capitol June 05, 2019 in Washington, DC.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images

DETROIT – General Motors is attempting to avoid a looming strike by the United Auto Workers union through a new offer Thursday that includes significant pay increases, more vacation days and better benefits for retirees, among other perks.
The proposal, which GM CEO Mary Barra called “compelling and unprecedented,” addresses many of the union’s demands but continues to fall short on others, such as a 40% pay increase over the four years of the deal that UAW sought.

GM released details of the deal roughly nine hours before the UAW could initiate targeted strikes against GM, Ford Motor and Stellantis if deals are not reached by 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday.
“We’re at a crossroads on our path to building a company that can sustain all of us for decades to come,” Barra said in a public letter. “Today, we put a compelling and unprecedented economic package on the table that reflects the significance of this critical moment.”
GM’s latest offer matches several provisions in a Ford proposal that the UAW made public last night. But it still falls short of the union’s public demands in several key respects.
The automakers were warning Thursday about the potential effects of meeting the UAW’s terms.
Ford sources said the automaker would have lost $14.4 billion over last four years if the current demands had been in effect, instead of recording nearly $30 billion in profits. UAW President Shawn Fain seems determined to achieve those terms.

The sources, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity due to the ongoing discussions, also pushed back on the UAW’s argument that members aren’t making a living wage. They said the average compensation under Ford’s current proposal for first-year UAW employees would be $132,000, including $92,000 in cash and $17,500 in health care coverage.
Here are the key pieces of the GM offer made Thursday:

Wages: A 20% increase over the four-year term of the contract, with a 10% raise in the first year. That’s up from 18% in GM’s last offer. The UAW has demanded increases of 40% over the term of the contract, which they say is in line with the pay increases seen by the Detroit automakers’ CEOs over the last several years.
Faster path to top pay: Under the current contract, newly-hired workers receive incremental wage increases over time, reaching top-level wages in eight years. GM’s proposal cuts that to four years. The UAW has demanded an end to the tier system.
Inflation protection: GM’s offer includes an unspecified level of cost-of-living protection for maximum wage earners, meaning wages will increase to – in theory, at least – keep pace with inflation. The union has demanded a return to a more generous system used in the past.
Job security: GM is promising not to shut down any of its U.S. manufacturing or warehousing facilities over the life of the contract.
Work-life balance: GM had previously proposed to recognize Juneteenth as a holiday. It’s now offering up to five weeks of vacation and two weeks of parental leave. That matches Ford’s Wednesday offer, at the time the only proposal that included parental leave. The UAW has demanded more time off, including a four-day work week.

“We are working with urgency and have proposed yet another increasingly strong offer with the goal of reaching an agreement tonight,” Barra said in the letter. “Remember: We had a strike in 2019 and nobody won.”
Key demands from the union have included 40% hourly pay increases, a reduced 32-hour workweek, a shift back to traditional pensions, the elimination of compensation tiers and a restoration of cost-of-living adjustments, among other items.
Ford’s most recent proposal includes a 20% wage increase over the four-year deal; $6,500 ratification bonuses; elimination of wage tiers at two components and parts plants; a cost-of-living adjustment; halving the time to reach full pay for four years; and other benefits.
The standoff also has the attention of Washington. President Joe Biden, who has cultivated a pro-union, blue collar reputation, spoke with UAW chief Fain and leaders of the automakers, the White House told NBC News.
This is a developing story. Please check back for additional details. More

Spirit Airlines announced its pilot training pipeline program is coming to Liberty University.
The school is the 10th partner for the Spirit Wings Pilot Pathway program.
The industry is facing a shortfall of aviators and other airlines have also moved to train more pilots.

A Spirit Airlines plane takes off at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, June 1, 2023.
Mario Tama | Getty Images

Spirit Airlines on Thursday said it will partner with Liberty University, the 10th school that it’s working with, to help beef up a pilot training pipeline as the industry continues to face a shortfall of aviators.
The program will allow students pursuing aviation degrees at the university’s School of Aeronautics in Lynchburg, Virginia, to apply to the company’s pipeline program after completing their sophomore year. Prospective trainees will need a recommendation from a faculty member before being eligible to begin the program.

Students working toward an aviation degree can get conditional job offers as they finish their studies and work on accruing flight hours. They must then complete airline pilot training programs, joining as first officers.
“We put a lot of hard work into developing the Spirit Wings Pilot Pathway Program and assembling a great group of partners making it incredibly rewarding to reach this key milestone,” Ryan Rodosta, senior director of flight operations and system chief pilot at Spirit, said in a press release.
Other carriers have also sought to increase their supply of new pilots. U.S. commercial airline pilots can only fly until age 65 under U.S. law. A surge in retirements and buyouts during the Covid-19 pandemic have exacerbated a shortfall, particularly at regional carriers.
JetBlue announced last month that its Gateway Rotor Transition Program will teach U.S.-military trained helicopter pilots to transition to airline pilots. More than 10% of JetBlue’s new pilot hires in 2023 are expected to come from one of its Gateway programs, JetBlue said at the time.
In February 2020, United Airlines purchased a flight academy in an effort to hire more than 10,000 new pilots within the decade.
Airlines are incentivized to train new pilots using pipeline programs. U.S. law requires pilots to receive 1,500 hours of training to fly with commercial airlines. Exceptions exist for some, such as U.S. military-trained pilots and those who attend two- and four-year programs that include flight training. More

Pop! Few events in financial markets this year were as hotly anticipated as the listing on September 14th of Arm, a British chipmaker whose designs are found in nearly every smartphone. The debut, on New York’s Nasdaq stock exchange, was a resounding success. The share price climbed by 25% on the first day of trading, giving the firm a market value of $65bn. That is $34bn more than SoftBank, a Japanese investment group, paid for the firm in 2016, $25bn more than Nvidia, an American chipmaker, offered to pay in 2020, $1bn more than the valuation at which SoftBank shuffled a 25% stake from its investment fund to its main operation in August, and 125 times Arm’s profit last year.Arm’s initial public offering (IPO) is America’s biggest since Rivian, a startup that makes electric trucks, raised $14bn in November 2021. New listings dried up shortly thereafter. Many have been counting on Arm to break the spell. Its successful opening day will lift the spirits of Birkenstock, a German sandal-maker which on September 12th announced plans to list its shares in America, and Instacart, a grocery-delivery firm looking to raise $600m this month.Some investors had feared that Arm might flop, which is understandable, given how devilishly difficult the firm is to value. Arm’s bosses and bankers have convinced investors that it can juice the royalties its customers pay to use its designs, offsetting the effect of the worldwide slump in smartphone sales currently under way. Arm’s new shareholders appear to have also shrugged off two wider worries confronting markets: the risk of doing business in China, and the excesses of investor enthusiasm for all things artificial intelligence (AI).To believe Arm is fairly valued is to believe that the pages of China-related risks in its IPO prospectus are conservative legalese, rather than an ominous premonition. Last year a quarter of the firm’s revenue came from China. Trade restrictions and RISC-V, an open-source alternative to Arm’s technology popular in China, could nibble away at these sales. The governance of the company’s operations in China adds to the worry. The majority of Arm China, which licenses Arm’s products in the country, has been sold to Chinese investors, meaning neither Arm nor SoftBank retains control. Issues are already emerging, including a history of late payments disclosed in the company’s prospectus (in March 40% of Arm’s accounts receivable were owed by Arm China). If relations between America and China deteriorate further, the arrangement may become problematic.Arm, like many other firms, has been busily trying to present itself to investors as a bet on AI. That is unsurprising, given how this year’s buzz around the technology has fuelled extraordinary stockmarket gains for its early adopters. Yet it may be some time before AI starts to fatten Arm’s bottom line. “It’s a bit early to call where AI computing workloads are going to sit. If they end up in our phones, that could drive more demand for Arm’s products,” says Sara Russo of Bernstein, a broker.Some of the biggest names in tech, including Apple, Google and Nvidia, whose AI chips pushed it into the trillion-dollar tech club this year, were part of an exalted list of ten “cornerstone” investors that lined up to purchase $735m of Arm’s shares as part of the listing. Announcing buyers ahead of an IPO can inspire confidence and reduce price volatility. Usually, however, these are financial investors. Rarely, as in this case, are they customers. For Arm, having some of tech’s biggest names on board is a vote of confidence. For the giants, it affords them a chance to get a foot in the door of a company vital to the tech industry.Investing in a SoftBank-backed IPO is a triumph of hope over experience—some of its biggest investments have gone on to flop in the public markets. What’s more, the investment group still holds around 90% of Arm’s shares, which means it will continue to call the shots. The incentives of SoftBank and Arm’s new investors are not certain to align, especially when it comes to future share sales. These could dampen Arm’s price by increasing supply, though SoftBank isn’t thought to be in a hurry to fully exit its investment. Arm’s new shareholders have, in other words, hitched themselves to a controlling owner whose behaviour is harder to predict even than what Arm is really worth. ■ More

More companies are warning that a surge in the cost of fuel and employee pay hikes will eat into profits this quarter.
Airlines, whose biggest expenses are jet fuel and labor, are getting hit particularly hard.
UPS and airlines are digesting big new labor deals, while Hollywood and the auto industry are at odds with unions.

An American Airlines 787 is loaded with cargo at Philadelphia International Airport.
Leslie Josephs/CNBC

More companies are warning that a surge in the cost of fuel and employee pay hikes will eat into profits this quarter.
Companies from aerospace manufacturers to package delivery giant UPS are digesting big new labor deals. Meanwhile, unions from the auto industry to Hollywood are pushing for better compensation. Airlines, whose biggest expenses are jet fuel and labor, are getting hit particularly hard.

Delta Air Lines on Thursday cut its adjusted earnings forecast for the third quarter to between $1.85 and $2.05 a share, down from an earlier forecast of $2.20 to $2.50. The carrier said it is paying more for fuel than it expected but said maintenance costs were also higher than anticipated.
U.S. jet fuel at major airports averaged $3.42 a gallon as of Tuesday, up 38% from two months ago, according to Airlines for America, an industry group.
On Wednesday, American Airlines trimmed its earnings forecast, following revisions at Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines. American expects adjusted earnings per share of between 20 cents and 30 cents in the third quarter, down from a previous forecast of as much as 95 cents a share, citing more expensive fuel and a new pilot labor deal.

The company expects to recognize a $230 million expense for that new contract, which includes immediate 21% raises for pilots, and compensation increasing more than 46% over the duration of the four-year contract, including 401(k) contributions.
Elsewhere, labor unions from Detroit to Hollywood have pushed hard for raises, better benefits and schedules in new contracts. UPS and the Teamsters union representing about 340,000 workers at the package carrier in July reached a new labor deal that includes raises for both full- and part-time workers, and narrowly avoided a potential strike.

UPS workers ratified the agreement last month. By the end of the five-year contract, a driver could make $170,000 in pay and benefits, the company said.
Earlier this week, the delivery giant outlined the costs associated with the deal and said the expenses derived from it will increase at 3.3% compound annual growth rate over the next five years.
“Year one costs more than we originally forecast,” said Brian Newman, the UPS finance chief, said on an investor call this week. He said it will cost $500 million more in the back half of 2023 than expected, he said.

As of midday Thursday, the United Auto Workers and Detroit automakers still appeared far apart in talks for new labor deals, setting up “likely” strategic strikes at the companies after an 11:59 p.m. ET Thursday deadline, UAW President Shawn Fain said Wednesday night. The union has sought nearly 40% hourly pay increases over new contracts as well as a reduced 32-hour workweek and other improvements.
Other unions also are seeking higher compensation. The Hollywood writers and actors strikes began in May and mid-July, respectively, with members demanding better pay to match changing industry dynamics in the entertainment-streaming era.
American Airlines offered flight attendants 11% pay increases the date a new contract starts, and 2% raises after that. But the Association of Professional Flight Attendants said the union wants 35% increases at the start of a new deal, followed by 6% annual raises.
Unions have argued that workers didn’t get raises during high inflation in recent years since the Covid pandemic derailed talks.
Strong travel demand has helped the largest carriers more than cover their higher expenses. But some carriers are seeing cracks in sales just as a slower travel period begins. Spirit Airlines on Wednesday said it expects a deeper loss than previously forecast and lower revenue.
Frontier Airlines warned Wednesday that “in recent weeks, sales have been trending below historical seasonality patterns,” and forecast an adjusted loss for the quarter.
– CNBC’s Michael Wayland and Gabriel Cortes contributed to this article. More