Before the UAW extended the strike, GM said Tuesday that the UAW work stoppage would cost it about $200 million in its earnings before interest and taxes in the final week of the third quarter and about $200 million since the fourth quarter began on Oct. 1. There is a decrease of 600 million dollars. It is estimated that the strike could lead to losses of $200 million per week going forward, although this number is likely to increase now that workers at the Texas plant are on strike.
“They have demanded a record contract – and this is what we have offered for several weeks: a historic contract with record wage increases, record job protections and world-class health care,” said the company’s chief executive, Mary T. Barra said in a letter to investors. “This is an offer that rewards our team members but doesn’t put our company and their jobs at risk.”
GM has offered the union a contract that would give workers a 23 percent pay increase over four years, raising the standard wage for experienced workers from $32 to more than $40 an hour; New workers earn lower rates. Employees working 40 hours a week at the top rate will earn about $84,000 a year, not including extra pay for overtime or profit-sharing bonuses, which have topped $10,000 over the past two years.
Ford and Stellantis have also made similar offers.
The union had initially sought a 40 percent raise, saying that a more modest increase would not compensate for the decline in living standards that its members had suffered from inflation and concessions in previous contracts.
Mr Fenn, who was elected president of the union in March, has taken a more confrontational approach to negotiations than his predecessors. He has portrayed negotiations with GM, Ford and Stellantis as the first step in a broader effort to organize workers at Tesla, Toyota, Honda and other companies that do not have unions at their U.S. factories.
On Friday, Mr. Fain said GM, Ford and Stellantis had not yet put their best offer on the table. “Despite all the chatter about how much companies have expanded, there is clearly still room to grow,” Mr Fenn said.
