The Price of Progress: GM and UAW Inch Closer to a Deal As Strike Disrupts Operations Across North America

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

The first strike action by unionized General Motors workers since before the recession has entered its fifth day, with bargaining teams from both sides claiming progress on a number of issues. That said, reaching a tentative deal reached before the weekend is a long shot.

With American GM plants free of workers, the shutdown of the automaker’s manufacturing landscape has sent shock waves across the border and into Canada, where many workers are now “enjoying” a unexpected late-summer vacation.

According to Automotive News, both sides spent Thursday in talks and planned to resume negotiations on Friday. Already, the strike has lasted more than twice as long as the 2007 strike. It didn’t go unnoticed by some workers.

“It’s already twice as long. That one we went out, and a couple days later, we were back. This one, it’s hard to say,” said Bill Duford, a UAW member picketing outside GM’s Romulus, Mich., transmission plant on Thursday. This time around, things are “completely different,” he added.

In a letter to members, Terry Dittes, vice president in charge of the UAW’s GM department, said the union has been working overtime to ensure negotiations ultimately land in their members’ favor. “The process of meeting in subcommittees and main tables will continue this weekend and beyond, if a Tentative Agreement is not reached,” he wrote.

As we told you yesterday, the idling of so many GM plants in the U.S. has forced some Canadian operations to throw in the towel. Some 1,200 or more workers were temporarily laid off at GM Canada’s Oshawa, Ontario assembly plant earlier this week. Several hundred workers at GM’s St. Catharines, Ontario propulsion plant are expected to receive pink slips on Friday.

Despite some progress in the talks, there’s agreements yet to be reached between the two sides. GM angered the UAW before talks broke off by making an offer in which workers would pay considerably more for their health care costs. It quickly retracted the offer, but other issues remain. One of those sticking points seems to be Mexico.

Speaking to FOX Business, UAW picket captain Moshee Edwards said, “I would like to see more cars built here in America because it doesn’t just affect us, it affects our communities outside of this plant as well. There are so many smaller communities, so many businesses that rely on us.”

Lingering resentment remains from GM’s decision to build the new Chevrolet Blazer in a Mexican facility, rather than earmark its production for an underutilized American plant. This move even earned GM a short-lived boycott on Mexican-made vehicles from Canadian Detroit Three auto worker union Unifor.

These issues, as well as those relating to wages, lump sum pay, and temporary worker benefits, will continue plaguing negotiating teams on both sides. In the meantime, GM is losing $50 million to $90 million per day as the strike drags on, depending on which analyst you speak to.

[Image: General Motors]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • TomLU86 TomLU86 on Sep 22, 2019

    Thanks Redgolf The temps are a thorn in the side of the UAW. Equal pay for equal work. Hard to argue with that. The workers made wage concessions and their real wages have dropped—but does that include the $10k profit sharing? As to health care, a higher percent paid by employees is consistent with modern America, for better or worse. So I think I’m onto something: End the temps, increase employees share of healthcare costs Of course, the transplants do the same things. They have temps—in Japan. Those temps don’t get the same pay and benefits as company workers. Ironically, “love Subaru” probably has the most egregious track record. And that’s the thing...the Democratic presidential candidates can join the picket lines and single out GM, but what about these practices by transplants? And I understand the Detroit three, even with older plants and workers, have better safety records

  • JD-Shifty JD-Shifty on Sep 24, 2019

    First they came foe the brainwashed union haters and I did nothing....

  • Doughboy Wow, Merc knocks it out of the park with their naming convention… again. /s
  • Doughboy I’ve seen car bras before, but never car beards. ZZ Top would be proud.
  • Bkojote Allright, actual person who knows trucks here, the article gets it a bit wrong.First off, the Maverick is not at all comparable to a Tacoma just because they're both Hybrids. Or lemme be blunt, the butch-est non-hybrid Maverick Tremor is suitable for 2/10 difficulty trails, a Trailhunter is for about 5/10 or maybe 6/10, just about the upper end of any stock vehicle you're buying from the factory. Aside from a Sasquatch Bronco or Rubicon Jeep Wrangler you're looking at something you're towing back if you want more capability (or perhaps something you /wish/ you were towing back.)Now, where the real world difference should play out is on the trail, where a lot of low speed crawling usually saps efficiency, especially when loaded to the gills. Real world MPG from a 4Runner is about 12-13mpg, So if this loaded-with-overlander-catalog Trailhunter is still pulling in the 20's - or even 18-19, that's a massive improvement.
  • Lou_BC "That’s expensive for a midsize pickup" All of the "offroad" midsize trucks fall in that 65k USD range. The ZR2 is probably the cheapest ( without Bison option).
  • Lou_BC There are a few in my town. They come out on sunny days. I'd rather spend $29k on a square body Chevy
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