The United Auto Workers on Tuesday expanded its strike to General Motors Co.’s SUV plant in Arlington, Texas, where 5,000 workers have joined the strike.
The labor action came shortly after GM
GM,
reported third-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street views, though the company also withdrew its 2023 guidance due to the uncertainty brewed by the strike.
GM Arlington makes the Chevy Tahoe, Chevy Suburban, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade, high-margin large SUVs that U.S. consumers have favored for years. The carmaker in June said it would invest more than $500 million in the plant, calling the investment a bid to “strengthen our industry-leading full-size SUV business.”
GM was the last of the Big Three to have a major SUV or pickup truck plant offline due to the strike. Such a disruption was a longstanding fear among Wall Street analysts as the large vehicles are Detroit’s most profitable and most desirable—plus they’re rarely discounted.
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The UAW on Oct. 11 called for a strike at Ford Motor Co.’s Kentucky truck plant, which makes the F-Series Super Duty pickup tricks, the Ford Expedition and the Lincoln Navigator. The union on Monday called for a strike at Stellantis NV’s
STLA,
largest plant, which makes Ram 1500 trucks.
The strike has entered its sixth week, and more than 45,000 autoworkers have walked out.
In a letter to shareholders accompanying GM’s third-quarter results, Chief Executive Mary Barra said that GM’s latest offer was the company’s “most significant.”
The UAW, however, said that the offer “fails to reward UAW members for the profits they’ve generated,” and that GM’s proposal lags behind Ford’s. GM is proposing “a two-tier wage progression, the weakest 401(k) contribution offer on the table, a deficient COLA and other shortcomings,” the union said.
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