Almost 50,000 Union Workers Walk Out Over Wages & Idled Plants During Strike Against GM

Close to 50,000 United Auto Workers union members went on strike against General Motors late Sunday after negotiations couldn’t be reached. This is the auto industry’s first full work stoppage since 2007, which was also a GM strike.

After originally declaring the intention to strike Sunday morning, the UAW citing the reason for the strike as the automaker’s lack of quality health care, job security, and proper wages. Not even 24 hours later, workers walked out of 31 GM factories and 21 other facilities.

While President Trump was unhappy with both sides for not being able to work a deal, it’s reported that GM did make a substantial offer to UAW members including revised pay and profit-sharing structure, along with the promise for bringing in new jobs.

It’s being reported that GM workers are hoping to negotiate modifications to their base pay instead of gambling on profit-sharing incentives. GM has said its average hourly worker earns about $90,000 per year and that a new-hire employee generally earns about $17 per hour, while legacy workers can earn between $28 and $33 per hour.

As of now, the strike shouldn’t affect the immediate availability of most GM vehicles.