Nearly
49,000 workers walked out on strike on 16 September at General Motors
facilities across the US.
The
heart of the union's argument is that employees made concessions
during the financial crisis to keep GM from shutting down.
In
2009, GM filed for bankruptcy. Piles of debt and slowing car sales
amid a global recession led the company to the brink of collapse. The
US government stepped in to keep the company and industry alive. It
gave GM roughly $40bn in loans in exchange for a 61% stake in the
company. Workers agreed to pay caps, a two-tier pay scale and allowed
GM to hire temporary workers who wouldn't have job security or
benefits. As part of the 2009
deal, the UAW agreed to cap wages at $28 an hour. This has since
increased to $30, but had those salaries kept pace with inflation
workers would be earning $33.77 an hour, the union says. In 2018,
GM's chief executive officer Mary Barra earned almost $22m.
Since
the bailout, GM has rebuilt itself and earned billions of dollars in
profits. Employees say they are owed a bigger part of that. The
UAW is asking for higher wages, assurances that GM will assign new
products to US plants that are scheduled to be idled, and changes to
a profit-sharing agreement. Workers are concerned electric cars,
which take fewer workers to build, will mean job cuts. Workers are
also losing money. The United Auto Workers union (UAW) has been
providing $250 a week to each striking worker to help them get by,
but many have had to dip into their savings.
The
reverberations of the strike are being felt across the state of
Michigan where GM has its headquarters. The auto industry is
Michigan's biggest employer. Manufacturing makes up 19% of Michigan's
economy. The state was experiencing a manufacturing slowdown before
the strike began, and there are growing fears that a recession could
be triggered if GM workers remain on the picket line much longer.
Torrance
Willison - who's worked at GM for 34 years - says: "We had to do
a lot of sacrificing. General Motors is on stronger ground because of
it. And now we are just hoping to reap some of the benefits."
"We're
prepared to be out here as long as takes," says Bill Brewer, a
quality control inspector at the Flint plant.
Stephanie
Pink, a 31-year-old mother who has worked at GM's Hamtramck plant for
four years, said, "It's really hard, even with my
savings," she says, "But we've got to fight for what's
right."
We
put in just as much work in these plants and putting these cars
together as anybody else with a suit on or a dress on or with heels,"
says Anesha Powell, an engine line worker who has been with GM for
nearly four years.
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