North American car production could soon go idle now that about 13,000 employees at the three biggest car manufacturers are officially picketing for better pay.

Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis each failed to negotiate new labor agreements with the United Auto Workers union before their contracts expired last night at 11:59pm. This could be the second-largest work stoppage in 25 years (besides the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike) and the first simultaneous strike at all three Detroit automakers in the union’s history.

The impacts could be far-reaching:

• Prices on new and used Ford, GM, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Fiat cars will likely rise if the strike persists and vehicle inventories wane.
• Suppliers of headlights, brakes, and other auto parts could receive fewer orders, leading to layoffs.
• Laid-off and striking workers will have less spending power, likely hurting businesses in parts of the Midwest that rely on the auto industry.

Just 10 days of striking could cost $5.6 billion in lost wages and earnings, according to the Anderson Economic Group.

Why the UAW is striking

The union has roughly 150,000 members at the Big Three who get paid $18 to $32 an hour to produce about half of the passenger cars in the US. Led by a new president, Shawn Fain, who promised “no corruption, no concessions,” the union is demanding…

• Pay increases proportional to executives’ raises.
• The removal of what the union considers a tier system that makes earning top wages take eight years.
• A 32-hour workweek with 40-hour pay to compensate for mandatory overtime burnout.
• The restoration of traditional pensions and cost-of-living raises.

The Big Three automakers have largely rejected these demands and countered with pay raises that are only about half of what the union wants.

Targeted strikes: For now, the UAW is strategically instructing members at only some assembly plants to walk out, which will disrupt car production while stretching its strike fund for as long as possible. More workers will go on strike the longer their demands go unmet, which Fain said will “keep the companies guessing.”—ML

Hear ye, hear ye! It’s time to crown a new smartphone king: Mode Mobile.

Mode’s EarnPhone is the biggest disruption to smartphones in 15 years. Their budget smartphone has helped consumers earn and save $150m+ for activities like listening to music, playing games, and even charging their devices.

That turned into 150x revenue growth from 2019 to 2022, making Mode Mobile one of America’s fastest-growing companies.

And now you can get a piece of the crown by joining the 12,197 shareholders who’ve participated in previously sold-out allocations.

Even better? Morning Brew subscribers can claim 100% bonus stock on Mode’s pre-IPO offering today.

Claim your exclusive 100% bonus: $0.16/share. That’s a deal fit for a king.

Arm gives huge lift to the IPO market. The SoftBank-owned chip designer went public Thursday and ended the day with a valuation of $65 billion—about $10 billion more than when it started. Arm's was the biggest initial public offering in two years, and analysts think it could lead to more companies going public after a two-year cold streak. Up next are Instacart and ad tech company Klaviyo, which are expected to begin trading next week.

Nigeria hit with nationwide blackout. Officials said a transmission line between two power plants caught fire and exploded yesterday, cutting power across the country in its worst outage in a year. Power was restored throughout the day, but not before it fell to zero megawatts in what Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies called a “total system collapse.” Many of the country’s homes and businesses use their own sources of electricity, like gas-powered generators, because the national grid is so unreliable.

France halts sales of iPhone 12 over radiation levels. The Agence Nationale des Fréquences, the country’s radiation watchdog, temporarily removed the Apple product from store shelves after tests showed it emits radiation levels in excess of European restrictions. Apple disputed that conclusion, arguing the phone is already in compliance with several international regulations. Belgium is now looking into the device’s potential health risks, and other European countries could soon follow.

Storm Daniel, which had already drenched Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria, hit Libya Sunday night, bursting two dams and flooding the port city of Derna. A Libyan aid group said yesterday that 11,300 people died in the flood, but the toll could reach 20,000 as search-and-rescue efforts continue. Now, the country’s attorney general has started investigating who is to blame.

One thing we already know is that Libya’s infrastructure wasn’t prepared. Last year, experts had warned the Libyan government—officially divided since the fall of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011—that the two dams near Derna were in disrepair and likely hadn’t received real maintenance since 2002. But nothing was done.

So when the medicane, a rare Mediterranean sorta-hurricane, arrived, both dams exploded. This sent a 23-foot wave hurtling toward the city, sweeping entire buildings into the sea.

The attorney general will also investigate the inconsistent warnings from the city’s leadership. Derna’s mayor urged some citizens to evacuate, but the commander of the Libyan National Army told people to stay in their homes, according to the WSJ.

The current state of recovery: Humanitarian convoys were finally able to enter the city within the last few days. There are currently more than 30,0000 people displaced by the destruction, according to the International Organization for Migration.—MM

Frequent fliers: Say bye to complimentary Sky Club mimosas and hello to $7 bottles of water at Hudson News.

In an effort to mitigate overcrowding at popular lounges, reward premium customers, and encourage spending on its co-branded credit cards, Delta announced a slew of major changes to its loyalty program:

• American Express Platinum and Platinum Business cardholders, and those with Delta SkyMiles Reserve credit cards, will now be limited to six and 10 Sky Club visits a year, respectively. (Don’t worry, you can skirt that requirement by simply spending $75k on the card in a year.)
• The elite Delta Medallion status will be determined solely by how much you spend—not how often you fly.
• Achieving Diamond status will also require 35,000 MQDs (“Medallion Qualifying Dollars”), compared with 20,000 under current rules.

The changes take effect next year. Delta must be doing something right—CEO Ed Bastian said the amount of money consumers charge to their Delta credit cards accounts for 1% of US GDP.

Zoom out: The move is part of an industry-wide rewards overhaul. American Airlines recently implemented similar changes, ending lenient Covid-era reward programs that helped keep it afloat during the pandemic. United Airlines, meanwhile, just opened a 35,000-square-foot club at the Denver airport to accommodate more customers.—CC

Stat: Everything’s bigger in Texas, including the desire to ban books. The Lone Star State led the US in attempts to restrict access to books in 2022 by a wide margin, according to a report from the American Library Association. Last year, Texas made 93 attempts to ban 2,349 individual titles like Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye for depicting sexual abuse and including DEI content. By comparison, Vermont and Hawaii made only five combined ban attempts.

Quote: “We are in very bad shape. We show in this analysis that the planet is losing resilience and the patient is sick.”

Climate scientists are begging someone to get Earth a doctor. A study published this week revealed that the planet is exceeding “safe operating space for humanity” in six of nine health metrics, like biodiversity, freshwater, and nutrient pollution. One of the coauthors, Johan Rockstrom, said these key measurements will determine the planet’s fate—and the three metrics not currently in the danger zone are quickly headed there.

Read: Which one of Bernard Arnault’s five kids will inherit his luxury empire? (The New York Times)

The feeling of getting a 5/5 on the Brew’s Weekly News Quiz has been compared to clicking “Remind Me Later” on a software update.

It’s that satisfying. Ace the quiz.

Float your boat: Head down to the Maryland or Virginia shore and take in some competitive boat docking.

Watch: The new trailer for Martin Scorsese’s crime epic Killers of the Flower Moon, which at least one critic said contains the best performance of Leonardo DiCaprio’s career.

Get hip: Impress the youths with your music knowledge, thanks to Billboard’s new TikTok Top 50 chart.

Ahhhh: Bathe in the sounds of thunder, waves, wind, fire, and much more with A Soft Murmur’s background noise generator.

Bonus watch: A Q&A with the executive producers of Dumb Money, a new movie about GameStop and meme stock mania.

Think smarter: Not harder. Brilliant’s bite-sized lessons help you master concepts in math, logic, computer science, and more in 15 minutes a day. Free for 30 days.*

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Pickdoku: Let’s head to the desert for today’s Picdoku. Play it here.

Friday puzzle

_ _ _ E R G R O _ _ _

What string of three letters can be placed before and after ‘‘ERGRO” to form a new word?

“UND” to make underground.

Source

Word of the Day

Today’s Word of the Day is: chimerically, meaning “formed from parts of various animals.” Thanks to possible Minotaur enthusiast Gregory from Florida for the suggestion. Submit another Word of the Day here.