To deal with the ongoing strike, General Motors (GM) has presented a proposal to the United Auto Workers (UAW) union members. The contract will rise the wages of most senior workers by 20 per cent. The workers have been on strike for more than three weeks.
The agreement will make their hourly pay around $39.24, which is roughly $82,000 a year. Additionally, the company has promised to bring back cost of living increases and improve work-life balance, as reported by WEYI Mid-Michigan NOW.
The strike began on 15 September, 2023 at Ford, GM, and Stellantis (Chrysler) with about nine per cent of UAW members walking out at three locations, after labour negotiations failed.
It involved 12,700 workers at various plants, and a week later, parts distribution workers at GM and Stellantis locations in 20 states also joined the strike. Some non-striking workers had to be laid off or furloughed due to the chaos.
The UAW union represents around 400,000 workers in various sectors, with one-third employed at the Big 3.
Auto workers are frustrated because they signed their last contract in 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to huge profits for automakers while their wages stagnated. Initially, the union sought a 46 per cent raise over four years but has reduced it to 36 per cent.
The union also demands a 32-hour work week for 40 hours of pay, traditional pensions, improved retirement health care, job security guarantees, the conversion of temporary workers to full-time with benefits after 90 days, and ending the two-tiered pay system.
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