General Motor Strikes Again 12 Years Later

The United Auto Workers union is striking again for the second time 12 years later as they bargain with General Motors. 48,000 workers on Monday, Sept. 16th began walking picket lines at 55 different plants across the United States. They cite job security, higher pay, and medical coverage as reasons for the strike.

The United Automobile Workers recently published a tweet stating, “We stood up for General Motors when they needed us most. Now we need GM to stand up for us and invest in the healthcare we deserve.”

General Motors has offered more than $7 billion of investment in eight U.S. plants with 5,900 additional jobs to the union. General Motors has claimed it will also offer wage increases for all four years of the deal, as well as an $8,000 signing bonus per member.

The Union still believes General Motors is falling short on a few important areas. This includes healthcare, lowering the number of temporary workers and decreasing the length of time it takes for shorter-tenure members to get higher pay. The Union wants pay raises for entry-level workers who currently make less than $20 an hour. They also want to increase the wage of workers to a peak of $30 an hour in 3-4 years, not the current period of 8 years.

Union employees have been setting up strike benefits for more than 4,500 workers of General Motors. These benefits include a weekly pay of $250 and health care coverage by the union.

It is estimated by a Credit Suisse analyst that the strike could cost General Motors more than $50 million a day.

On Sept. 18th, General Motors revoked healthcare for all protesting workers. However, officials argue the General Motors strike makes a strong case for free healthcare.

As the strike is not over yet, it is expected that there will be much more to come in the following days as General Motors employees continue to take to the streets with their protests.