Members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) who are employed at the General Motors Flint Assembly plant in Flint, Michigan, slow down salary employees entering the plant as they strike early on September 16, 2019.Jeff Kowalsky / AFP via Getty The United Auto Workers union is leading its first strike against General Motors in 12 years, digging in for a fight over jobs and benefits that could cost the carmaker dearly.The strike that took effect at midnight may cost GM about US$50 million a day in earnings before interest and taxes due to lost production, Dan Levy, an analyst at Credit Suisse, said Sunday.While GM touted an offer to invest in plants across the U.S. and boost wages and benefits, UAW leadership has been rocked by a corruption scandal and needs to show willingness to bring the fight to an automaker thats been scaling back its workforce.The union is playing some hardball. It seems they are pretty far apart, said Kristin Dziczek, vice-president of the labor and economics group at the Center for Automotive Research. GMs offer still doesnt address some of the unions demands.GM has offered US$7 billion of investment in eight U.S. plants and more than 5,400 additional jobs, most of which would be new hires. But the union said GMs proposal fell short in key areas including health care, use of temporary workers and the length of time it takes for shorter-tenured members to get to top-scale pay.The union is seeking pay raises for entry-level workers, who currently start at less than US$20 an hour, and to get them to the peak wage of almost US$30 an hour in three or four years, instead of the current period of eight years.Going into this bargaining season, our members have been very clear about what they will and will not accept from this contract, UAW Vice President Terry Dittes said at a press conference on Sunday.Temporary employees and those working their way up the pay scale are doing the same work for less compensation, said Ted Krumm, the head of the unions bargaining committee. We are fighting for the future of the middle class, he said. GM countered that it made the union a generous offer to invest in factories in four states, including a new vehicle in the Detroit-Hamtramck sedan plant that had been slated to end production in January.In Lordstown, Ohio, where GM has idled the factory that once had three shifts of workers making Chevrolet Cruze compact cars, the automaker plans to set up the first union-represented electric-car battery plant in the U.S. There are also four electric trucks coming that other UAW plants will build.GM offered workers a signing bonus of US$8,000 per member if they ratify the deal, plus wage gains or lump-sum payments in all four years of the contract. The carmaker says its offering to keep members health-care contributions the same as in the current contract.The walkout will be just the second national work stoppage at GM since a 67-day strike in 1970. GM did have a 54-day strike at a key plant in Flint, Michigan, in 1998 that effectively shut down most of its assembly
Origin: U.S. workers’ union starts first strike against GM in 12 years