GM Workers End Strike, Return to Work After New Contract

Strategic Insights -

Striking workers at two General Motors Corp. brake-making plants in Dayton approved a new contract and returned to work yesterday, ending a walkout that stopped production at a GM assembly plant in Canada and three U.S. states. Members of United Auto Workers Local 696 ratified the three-year contract by a vote of 1,266 to 39. The 3,000 workers at GM's Delco Chassis Division plants went on strike Monday after negotiators failed to reach agreement by a union-imposed deadline. The walkout forced GM assembly plants in Oshawa, Ont., Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin to suspend production yesterday when they ran out of parts. The strike had significant implications for GM's production lines, with plants affected in Pontiac, Lansing, and Orion Township, Mich., as well as in Fort Wayne, Ind., and Janesville, Wis.

Key Takeaways:

  • The strike was over the issue of "outsourcing," a practice in which smaller companies are hired to make parts normally produced in the plants, and GM's proposal to hire an Australian company to make a new generation of aluminum brake calipers.
  • Under the new contract, the calipers will be made at the Dayton plants, saving 279 jobs and helping create an additional 203 jobs.
  • GM agreed to invest $160-million (U.S.) over the next four model years in the caliper, engine-bearing, and anti-lock brake operations at the two plants.
  • The strike affected GM assembly plants in Oshawa, Ont., Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin, with production suspended at plants in Pontiac, Lansing, Orion Township, Mich., Fort Wayne, Ind., and Janesville, Wis.
  • The strike was resolved after a three-year contract was ratified by members of United Auto Workers Local 696 by a vote of 1,266 to 39.

Statistics:

  • 3,000 workers at GM's Delco Chassis Division plants went on strike.
  • 1,266 to 39 vote ratio for the new contract.
  • 29 North American assembly plants use power brake boosters and master brake cylinders supplied by Delco.
  • 279 jobs saved by making calipers at the Dayton plants.
  • 203 additional jobs created by making calipers at the Dayton plants.
  • $160-million investment by GM in the caliper, engine-bearing, and anti-lock brake operations at the two plants over the next four model years.

Sources:

  • Associated Press, DAYTON, Ohio
  • United Auto Workers Local 696