Automakers, UAW Spend Strike’s First Day in War of Words (2)

The United Auto Workers and Detroit automaker executives exchanged harsh words on Friday, the first day of the union’s unprecedented simultaneous strike against all three of Detroit’s manufacturers.

After the midnight deadline for a new contract passed, workers walked out of a Ford Motor Co. plant in Michigan, a General Motors Co. factory in Missouri and a Stellantis NV plant in Ohio. Picket lines began in the early hours Friday, and a war of words followed.

At a rally in Detroit Friday afternoon, Union President Shawn Fain said that for eight weeks, the carmakers “didn’t seem to be able to ...