On Wednesday, the United Auto Workers made a huge announcement that a new agreement has been made with General Motors. This strike is potentially strike-ending, but that is to be decided later today. The details of the new deal have yet to be shared. Yet, it’s said to bring about many of the changes the autoworkers felt was necessary enough to strike in the first place.
Many at the UAW were concerned about several of GM’s plants potentially going offline. The demands of the strikers include investment in new jobs, better health insurance, and increased pay. They also wanted to make it easier for someone to go from being a temp to full-time worker. Temps make up about 7% of GM’s workforce. They often use temp workers to avoid having to give them the same benefits and pay as full-time workers.
Healthcare was another major concern. General Motors was starting to put a larger burden of the cost of healthcare on the workers. They still have to pay a little bit of their health insurance costs, which totals around 3%. That number has been growing. GM wanted to bump it up to workers paying 15%, which they effectively were not interested in doing.
Another issue UAW took up is GM increasing production in Mexico. The company wants to keep investing plants and jobs in Mexico due to lower wages. This decision often comes with the closing of factories in the U.S., killing jobs here in the process. This has been a battle for several decades. Flint and Detroit are two examples of what happens GM pulls up stakes and moves production to a different country.
A New GM Deal
After about a month of picketing, it appears as if a new deal has been struck between GM and the UAW. The negotiations appeared to be close, as several times both sides seemed willing. The workers wanted to get back to work, but GM had the upper hand. They claimed to have several months’ worth of cars and trucks lined up, so they would be okay for a while.
Still, strikes are bad for business. Almost no one takes up for the company in this instance. Even presidential candidates came out for the workers and implored GM to give in to their demands. Now, it appears as if a deal has come. More details will be revealed soon about what was agreed upon.
The strike still isn’t officially over. The National Council and other ranked members of the UAW still have to agree to GM’s terms. Then comes the official vote. The strikers will remain on the picket lines until the vote happens.
