Three weeks into the United Auto Workers strike, signs of progress have emerged in talks between the union and General Motors.
GM said it provided a counteroffer to the UAW’s most recent proposal, which it said is the sixth by the company since the start of negotiations.
“We believe we have a compelling offer that would reward our team members and allow GM to succeed and thrive into the future. We continue to stand ready and willing to negotiate in good faith 24/7 to reach an agreement,” said GM in a statement.
While there have been numerous offers passed back and forth between the union and automakers for weeks now, a source familiar with negotiations told CNN, “There has been movement in a few key areas” between GM and the union.
Another source familiar with negotiations said Wednesday that there has been active talks and progress in negotiations this week.
The UAW declined to comment on the status of talks. UAW President Shawn Fain is due to update membership on the state of negotiations at a 2 pm ET presentation to be carried on Facebook Live.
The UAW started its strike on September 15 with members walking out at one assembly plant at each of the three unionized automakers – GM, Ford and Stellantis. At Fain’s previous two Friday updates, he announced expansions of the strike to put more pressure on the companies to improve their offers. In the first update a week into the strike, he declined to expand the strike at Ford due to progress in those talks. The following week he declined to expand the strike at Stellantis, due to 11th hour progress there. But General Motors has yet to have significant progress in talks before now, and the union has twice expanded its strike against GM.
GM had 46,000 UAW members on its its payroll at the start of the year. The UAW is striking two of its assembly plants, in Wentzville, Missouri, and Lansing, Michigan, and a third assembly plant has been shut in Kansas City, Kansas, because it needs castings from the nearby Wentzville plant to operate. The union is also striking 18 of its parts and distribution centers spread across the country to supply its dealerships with parts needed to make repairs.
GM reported this week that it lost $200 million in the first two weeks of the strike, and also disclosed it has arranged for a an additional $6 billion line of credit to deal with the uncertainty caused by the strike. The company reported record earnings in 2022 and strong earnings the first half of this year. Despite the strike, it posted a 21% increase in sales in the third quarter and said its inventory of vehicles at dealerships stands at its highest point since 2020, the first year of the pandemic.
GM is the only automaker the UAW struck in 2019, a six-week strike that cost it $2.9 billion.
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