Strike at GM: The UAW says it will hit General Motors at midnight

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As union officials gathered in Detroit on Sunday morning, the union launched a new strike threat.

"If GM refuses to give even an inch to help hard-working UAW members and their families, we'll see them on the picket lines tonight," the statement said.

The union's deal with GM expired Sunday at 12:01, but GM's 46,000 union members had not left work in 31 GM factories and 21 other facilities across the country at that time .

Terry Dittes, vice president of the bargaining union, told members in a letter to members Saturday in a letter to members.

These problems suggest that it will be difficult to reach an agreement in time to avoid a strike, said Kristin Dziczek, vice president of labor relations and economics of the Center for Automotive Research, a group of reflection of Michigan.

"You can not solve one of these problems without solving all the problems," she said.

If the union goes on strike, it will be the largest union ever against a US company since the last time UAW members hit GM in 2007.

A strike of GM could take place as of Sunday. But a union scandal makes negotiations more difficult

Dittes has accused GM of "refusing" to pass the hard-working Americans ahead of their record $ 35 billion profits in North America over the past three years. "

"We are united in our efforts to reach an agreement that our members and their families deserve," he added.

GM, the largest US automaker, said in a statement that it was ready to work tirelessly to try to reach an agreement to create "a solid future for our employees and our company".

"We continue to work tirelessly to find solutions to very difficult problems," said the company statement. "There are thousands of GM families and their communities – and thousands more at our dealerships and suppliers – who rely on us for their livelihoods."

The union had previously extended contracts with two other US manufacturers with UAW contracts, Ford (F) and Fiat Chrysler (FCAU)because it was aimed at GM in order to reach an agreement defining a model for the sector. Dittes' letter stated that if membership would remain active for the time being, there would be no long-term extension of the GM contract.

There was a strike that started early Sunday morning by 850 UAW maintenance workers in GM factories. But they work for an outside contractor, Aramark, not GM. They had been working under extended contract since March 2018.

"We have UAW members who work long hours and who continue to benefit from public support," said Gerald Kariem, director of 1W Region of UAW, about attendants. "It's shameful."

The UAW members of the three manufacturers have much better contracts. GM says its average hourly employee earns about $ 90,000 a year, not counting the benefits.

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The three automakers are facing a slowdown in sales and the need for huge multi-billion dollar investments in the development of autonomous electric vehicles with longer-term potential than current market demand.
To save money through these efforts, GM has already ended its operations in three US plants – two transmission plants and one assembly line in Lordstown, Ohio. She plans to close another assembly line in Detroit, her last factory in Detroit, early next year.

The UAW has promised to win GM's agreement at the bargaining table to maintain all or at least some of these plants.

But negotiations come as the union is struck by a scandal involving embezzlement of the union and, in some cases, by union leaders accepting bribes from Fiat Chrysler officials. Nine people associated with the union or Fiat Chrysler have already pleaded guilty to federal charges.
Last week, the Detroit News announced that union president, Gary Jones, was the unidentified union leader identified in the most recent indictment as being "the UAW leader". The union did not respond to a request for comment on this report.

Experts say the scandal will make it more difficult for union leaders to ratify union members of automakers. Four years ago, all agreements were only concluded with narrow margins, even though there was no scandal at the time.

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