The auto workers' strike enters its 4th week. The union president urges members to keep up the fight

CHICAGO (AP) — The president of the United Auto Workers and other labor leaders headlined a rally Saturday in Chicago to maintain union members’ support for a strike against Detroit automakers that is now in its fourth week.

UAW President Shawn Fain, using language that has become familiar over the past month, portrayed the strike a pivotal moment for organized labor and part of a war pitting working people against “the billionaire class and corporate greed.”

Fain provided no new details on negotiations or whether talks continued on Saturday. A spokeswoman for Stellantis, which owns the Jeep, Ram and Dodge brands, said there was nothing to update Saturday. Representatives of Ford and General Motors did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

The union claimed a breakthrough on Friday, when GM agreed to put workers at new electric vehicle battery plants under the UAW’s national contract. On Friday night, Ford repeated its previous statement that the plants haven't even been built, and when they are, workers will decide whether to join the union.