UNITED AUTO WORKERS (UAW) president Shawn Fain spoke at a packed rally in Chicago on Saturday hours after after claiming “major progress” in contract talks with the Big Three United States car makers.

Mr Fain told the rally: “They’re saying that we’re going to wreck the economy. But we’re not going to wreck the economy. We’re going to wreck their economy.”

This came after Mr Fain told members in his weekly Facebook Live address on Friday that negotiators had made “major progress in negotiations with all three auto makers.”

Members of the UAW have been on strike for more than three weeks against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis to demand a pay increase that keeps pace with the US cost of living, more job security and recognition of the sacrifices made by workers who saved the companies from bankruptcy during the financial crash of 2008. 

The union is also calling for a share of the record profits being raked in by the companies, a demand supported by US President Joe Biden.

The UAW has announced three targeted work stoppages since the strike began September 15, with GM the only company being targeted each time, while Ford and Stellantis have both been hit twice. 

The union president told members on Friday that no new strike targets would be added after threatening action at GM’s highly profitable SUV factory in Arlington, Texas. 

But Mr Fain said that the union would still consider action if companies blocked further progress towards achieving a fair agreement. 

Mr Fain welcomed a commitment by GM to include electric vehicle battery production work in the company-wide collective bargaining agreement.

The union said: “GM’s commitment is a historic step forward, guaranteeing that the transition to electric vehicles at GM will be a just transition that brings good union jobs to communities across America.”

Mr Fain told UAW members: “We were about to shut down GM’s largest money maker, in Arlington, Texas. The company knew those members were ready to walk immediately. Just that threat provided a transformative win.”

He also said: “We have power and we have shown the Big Three that we are not afraid to use it. The threat of strikes by a unified membership is what delivers. 

“Our goal here is not just to pound the table and show management how angry we are — we are angry, and our members are angry — but our goal is not just to get mad and shut it all down. Our goal is to outsmart and out-organise corporate America.”