Negotiations between the UAW and GM remain ongoing and an agreement may not be reached for weeks, Auto News reports.
The strikes, now into their second week, kicked off after the the workers’ union and The General failed to agree to terms for a new contract. GM provided an eleventh-hour offer that included $7 billion in U.S. investments, the creation or retention of 5,400 jobs, an $,8000 ratification bonus and carryover health benefits, but it was dismissed by the union. Now both sides are digging their heels in.
It is reported that the automaker is losing between $50 million and $100 million each day production is idled at its plants, but it has enough liquidity, $34 billion to be exact, that analysts don’t think it will significantly dent its bottom line for weeks or even months. High inventory levels also mean dealership lots will remain full for quite some time as negotiations continue.
Also Read: UAW Strike Already Causing Ripple Effects As GM Forced To End Truck Production In Canada
“I don’t think they’re looking to get a quick deal,” labor expert at Cornell University Art Wheaton said. “I think they’re drawing a line in the sand and trying to see who can starve each other out.”
GM has already kicked roughly 46,000 hourly workers off its normal health coverage scheme to mount pressure on the UAW that will soon start doling out $250 a week in strike pay to those workers.
For some workers, the prolonged negotiations are starting to become unnerving.
“I wanted to do it to say I was able to strike and we made history,” GM Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly worker Domanique Henry told Auto News last Friday. “But now it’s getting serious. I have a child that I have to take care of and bills that have to be paid.”
