UAW GM strike: UAW goes on strike against GM
The union's 46,000 hourly workers went to 31 GM factories and 21 other facilities, spread across nine states, mostly in the center of the country. It is the biggest strike by any union against any business since the last strike at GM in 2007.
The strike started at 11:59 pm Sunday night. The two sides did not formally meet Sunday after the union declared their intention to strike at a press conference in the morning, although union spokesman Brian Rothenberg said the dialogue between the two sides was ongoing. A new meeting between the two sides is set for 10 am Monday.
The union said GM put profits in front of employees who helped turn the company over when it went through bankruptcy and federal bailout a decade ago.
The company said it made a significant offer that includes improved pay and profit sharing for union members, along with investments to create new jobs. It also promised a "solution" for two of the four facilities currently planned for closure: one in Detroit and another in Lordstown, Ohio.
The company did not say what the solution would be. But a person familiar with GM's offerings said it included a promise to build a new electric truck at Detroit Hamtramck, and to build new batteries for electric cars in Lordstown. This work would not start immediately, so the plants are likely to remain dark for some time. Work would begin once in the next four years if the offer is accepted.
A source close to the UAW with direct knowledge of negotiations said that most of the proposals the company made public on Sunday came very late in the negotiations on Saturday.
GM states that the average hourly worker earns around $ 90,000 per year, not including benefits. But the number of hourly workers at GM has dropped sharply in recent decades, due to a combination of automation, lost market share and outsourcing. But GM is still building the overwhelming majority of cars it sells in the US market in North America. And it has far more factories in the United States than in Mexico or Canada.
If the union goes on strike, it will be the largest of any unions against any US business since the last time UAW members beat GM in 2007.
Experts say the scandal will make it harder to get rankings and archive union members with car manufacturers to ratify any tentative agreement reached by union management. Four years ago, all the agreements went only by narrow margins, although there was no scandal at the time.
The last strike 12 years ago lasted only three days, but some strikes against GM have expanded for several months in the past. For many of the employees employed since 2007, this is their first work stoppage.
CNN's Scott McLean contributed to this report.
