The last UAW strike lasted 40 days and cost GM $3 billion. Things are looking very different this time.
AP
- UAW-GM workers were fighting plant closures in 2019.
- Four years ago, about 46,000 GM workers went on strike for 40 days.
- The last auto worker strike targeted GM, not all three Detroit companies.
The United Auto Workers union is on strike again, but it looks much different this time around.
The United Auto Workers are initiating targeted strikes at all three Detroit car companies after both sides failed to come to an agreement before the contracts expired at 11:59 p.m. last night. It's the UAW's second strike in as many contract talks, but the circumstances are particularly unique this go-around.
Four years ago, when some 46,000 hourly workers at General Motors went on strike for more than a month, things looked much different for the auto union.
In 2019, UAW leadership was embroiled in a yearslong federal criminal probe, eroding trust with the rank-and-file membership. At the same time, an age-old issue for UAW workers – plant closures – provided the union with the opportunity to rally enthusiasm and forge more unity among members.
Typically, the UAW chooses what is referred to as a "lead company" or a "strike target" to set a pattern for bargaining at the other two companies (that's different with new UAW President Shawn Fain, who has said the Big Three are the target). The union chose GM in 2019 because of the plant closure issue and the need to negotiate the future of those factories and their workers.
Officially, the UAW went on strike in 2019 over pay, job security, and better benefits. But one of the main sticking points at the table was GM's decision to close four US factories, including a large assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio.
The sides eventually agreed to a deal that saw GM investing billions of dollars in a battery joint venture in Lordstown, which unionized with the UAW in late 2022. In return, GM was allowed to shutter three other factories.
Reverberations in the industry
During the bitter, 40-day strike, the longest nationwide strike at GM since the 1970s, GM was forced to shutter several non-union plants as supplies from union-represented shops stopped coming through. In the end, GM said the 2019 UAW strike cost the company some $3 billion.
GM's suppliers were also hard-hit when orders all but dried up during the extended work stoppage. Several suppliers were also forced to idle their own plants and issue temporary layoffs without business from GM.
These work stoppages hit customers first, zapping supply for dealer repair shops and creating long waitlists for normally simple repairs.
The hit for customers didn't happen overnight, though. Even in the depths of the strike, dealers reported healthy inventory levels for the time of year. It wasn't until those stockpiles started dwindling at the end of 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit US shores, that GM dealers started to run out of cars.
What a resolution looked like
At the end of the 40-day GM strike in 2019, GM workers won considerable gains, including better wages, a clear path to full-time employment for temporary workers, and a hefty one-time signing bonus of $11,000 to partially make up for lost wages during the work stoppage.
A tentative agreement was reached on day 31 of the strike, typically signaling the end of a work stoppage. But union leaders at the time chose to continue striking even after reaching a tentative agreement with GM, deciding instead to wait until its members voted to approve the deal.
The reason for this at the time was that the agreement to allow GM to close Lordstown and other factories left many members still feeling nervous about the future. About 57% of GM workers eventually voted in favor of the agreement its leadership reached with the company.
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