DETROIT (AP) – Contract talks between the United Auto Workers and General Motors showed some signs of progress Tuesday as a strike by more than 49,000 employees extended into a second day.
The walkout brought to a standstill more than 50 factories and parts warehouses in the union’s first strike against the No. 1 U.S. automaker in over a decade. Workers left factories and formed picket lines shortly after midnight Monday in the dispute over a new four-year contract.
“They are talking, they’ve made progress, we’ll see how long it takes,” said Brian Rothenberg, spokesman for the UAW.
One of the main sticking points is health care. GM is looking to cut its costs, but workers say they shouldn’t have to pay more because the company is making billions in profits. Union workers pay about 4% of their health care costs, but employees of large companies in the U.S. pay an average of 34%, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Worker Joel Inocencio demonstratives outside a General Motors facility in Langhorne, Pa., Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019. More than 49,000 members of the United Auto Workers walked off General Motors factory floors or set up picket lines early Monday as contract talks with the company deteriorated into a strike. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)Tina Black, who finishes up 10-speed automatic transmissions at a GM engine and transmission factory in the Detroit suburb of Romulus, said health insurance is the most important issue to her, and she doesn’t want GM to change anything.