The United Auto Workers reached tentative agreements on new contracts with two of the Detroit automakers they’ve been striking the last six weeks.
On Saturday, the UAW expanded its strike against the third.
On the same day it was announcing its new deal with Stellantis – the UAW and Ford had announced a tentative agreement on Wednesday – the union announced it was expanding its strike against General Motors to include its Spring Hill, Tenn., engine plant, responsible for production of the carmaker’s large pickups.
The expansion of the seven-week strike causes further financial pain to GM, the only Detroit automaker without a contract deal. The deals struck with Ford and Stellantis include a record 25% jump in wages over the 4-1/2-year contract and allow the companies to restart their profitable truck assembly lines.
At GM, people familiar with the bargaining said sticking points in the UAW negotiations include retirement benefits and issues related to temporary workers, according to a weekend report from Reuters. GM has more retirees than either Ford or Stellantis and increases to pension benefits for workers hired before 2007 cost GM more than its rivals, Reuters reported.
“We are disappointed by GM’s unnecessary and irresponsible refusal to come to a fair agreement,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement to Reuters.
GM said in a statement that two of its large pickup plants could be affected by the Spring Hill walkout and that it wanted to reach an agreement quickly.
The UAW earlier put workers out on picket lines at GM’s Arlington, Texas, assembly plant, which makes the Chevy Tahoe and Suburban and Cadillac Escalade. GM said earlier this week that this walkout was costing it $400 million a week.
The Spring Hill plant, which employs 4,000 workers, supplies motors to nine assembly plants that build several of the automaker’s best-selling and most profitable vehicles.
