The United Auto Workers (UAW) and General Motors (GM) are currently in labor negotiations, with the current contract expiring on September 14th. The UAW has authorized a strike against GM if the current contract talks are not resolved satisfactorily.
At stake in these negotiations is health care, wages, job security, and other benefits for the nearly 50,000 GM workers represented by the UAW. The UAW is calling for higher wages and better job security in the face of GM’s ongoing effort to move more of its production to Mexico and other non-UAW facilities.
If a strike were to occur, GM has vowed to keep production going by utilizing non-union workers. However, if a prolonged strike were to happen, GM could lose billions in potential profits as production comes to a halt.
The last time the UAW went on strike was 2015, and it lasted just two days. However, an ongoing strike against GM could have widespread impact on the American auto sector and lead to a major slowdown of the US economy.
