UAW TO VOTE ON STRIKE AUTHORIZATION NEXT WEEK AS PRESIDENT SAYS TALKS WITH DETROIT 3 MOVING SLOWLY

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer

ABOUT 146,000 mem- bers of the United Auto Workers union will vote next week whether to authorize their leaders to call strikes against the Detroit automakers.

Union President Shawn Fain told members in a Facebook Live appearance Tuesday that the talks, which started in mid-July, are moving slowly and have yet to get to wages and other economic issues.

The union's contracts with General Motors, Ford and Stellantis expire in about a month, at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 14.

"If we want to make progress at the bargaining table, we need to show the companies that it's not just talk," Fain said of the strike vote.

He told local offices to report the results of their votes to the union headquarters by Aug. 24.

Strike authorization votes are a routine part of contract talks and are often overwhelmingly approved, but Fain said the vote is a sign of the union's strength.

Stocks of homebuilders were also among the limited number of winners after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway disclosed it bought stakes in several. Other investors often try to copy the famed investor’s moves, and D.R. Horton rose 2.9%. It was one of just 43 stocks in the S&P 500 that rose, as more than 90% within the index fell.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 51.86 points to 4,437.86. The Dow dropped 361.24 to 34,946.39, and the Nasdaq sank 157.28 to 13,631.05.

In stock markets abroad, indexes slumped in Europe after falling 1% in Hong Kong and 0.1% in Shanghai.

Pressures are appearing worldwide. Also Tuesday, Russia’s central bank raised its main lending rate in an emergency move to strengthen the ruble after the currency reached its lowest value since early in the war with Ukraine. In the U.K., data showed wages for workers are growing at a strong pace, which threatens to add upward pressure on its already high inflation.

Japanese stocks were an exception. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.6% after Japan reported unexpectedly strong growth in its economy during the spring.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.21% from 4.20% late Monday. It helps set rates for mortgages and other important loans.

The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely follows expectations for the Fed, fell to 4.94% from 4.97%.

Fain has set high expectations for the contract talks and says the union will seek more than 40% general pay raises over four years, restoration of pensions for newer hires, cost-of-living increases, an end to wage tiers, and other benefits. He has said workers can make big gains but must be ready to strike to get them.

The union also wants guarantees that it will represent workers at 10 U.S. electric vehicle battery plants proposed by the companies. Most are joint ventures with Korean battery companies.

Much of Fain's rhetoric has been focused on Stellantis, the most profitable of the three companies with the highest profit margins.

Fain has complained that Stellantis is seeking concessions in the contract when the union wants gains. But a union spokesman said singling out Stellantis doesn't mean the UAW has picked a company as a strike target, and it could choose all three.