Why the GM strike could last well into October
The UAW and General Motors are far apart on several key issues that could take a week or more to resolve before a tentative agreement is reached, two people familiar with the talks told the Free Press on Thursday.
That also means the strike could last at least two weeks longer if the UAW acts on a plan it is considering to keep members on the picket lines until the GM rank and file votes to ratify the deal, as the Free Press has reported.
Other people close to the talks cautioned that breakthroughs can come quickly, speeding a resolution.
In the meantime, UAW leadership has instructed regional directors to meet with the leaders of union locals over the next few days to brief them on the talks, said the sources.
The developments came as costs to both sides mount on day 11 of the longest UAW strike since 1985. Anderson Economic Group, an East Lansing-based consultant, said Thursday that GM probably has lost profits of $113 million so far, and is now losing money at the rate of $25 million a day. It said UAW members and workers at supplier firms laid off now total $266 million in direct wages.
Early Thursday, GM reversed itself on a decision it made early in the strike that angered the union. It said it has now decided to pay health care costs of strikers rather than leaving that to the UAW. The union, though, appeared to be unimpressed.
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