The United Auto Workers' strike against the Detroit 3 automakers will pose an extraordinary test for the nation's more than 5,600 automotive suppliers, some of which have just gotten back on their feet after weathering COVID-19 production slowdowns.

Counsel for the suppliers have been imploring them for months to shore up liquidity and review contracts with customers and subsuppliers to brace for a strike that they all hoped would not come to pass.

Those hopes were dashed when midnight Thursday hit and the union began a simultaneous strike against all three of the Big 3 for the first time in history. For now, the strike is limited to one plant for each of the Big 3—Ford, General Motors and Stellantis—covering about 13,000 of the UAW's 145,000 members, though the union is threatening to expand it.