General Motors announced a record profit-sharing check for its unionized employees in the wake of lower overall net income from the ignition switch scandal that has cost the automaker millions of dollars. GM employees were grateful, and frankly shocked when they received their latest profit-sharing checks.
In a new report by The Detroit Free Press, the amounts were made out for $9,000 for each employee, a significant increase from last year’s $7,500, and higher than Ford or Fiat-Chrysler Autos.
“This is much more than we were expecting. Everyone seemed to be upbeat about it,” said Tim Shoup, a 61-year-old worker at General Motors’ Flint Truck assembly plant. “I think most of us were thinking it would be around $5,000 or $5,500.” Shoup says he foresees a long overdue vacation this summer with the help of this money.
The profit-sharing is a crucial payment many UAW workers await since workers like Shoup, who were hired before 2007, haven’t seen a base-wage increase in eight years. Worker hired after 2007 start at a lower wage, but have seen small incremental increases in their hourly wages.
Kristen Dziczek, who runs the industry and labor group at the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research, said that during good years of operations the checks make a significant impact and supplement workers’ wages. But she notes that in the thirty years since the UAW accepted profit-sharing there has been twelve years where GM payed nothing at all.
Other workers like Anthony Kotlarcyzk, a 56 year old pipe fitter at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly, plan on paying off debt, planning a vacation and buffering their 401(k)s.
“I’ll probably put some of it into my 401(k). My daughter just graduated from Wayne State with a degree in psychology and some of it may go to help pay off her loans. My wife may want to take a vacation. It’s not my money, it’s ours.”
GM’s Chief Financial Officer Chuck Stevens said no set formula was used to calculate the profit-sharing sum, but commented saying the company wanted to reward the “significant support and hard work” of its manufacturing team.
Comments
Unprecedented recalls and this is the reward? In the private sector, when you build garbage, you don’t get a $9000 check.
Do they pledge allegiance to Obama before each shift?
Do you think the people working in the factories had anything to do with ignition switch design? The UAW made massive concessions to keep GM afloat and this payout is a fraction of what was given up, the older workers have not gotten a raise in 11 years and the new hires make significantly less then the people doing the same work as the people they work on the line with.
GM is a private sector business btw, even this factory worker knows the difference between public and private.
Funny you mention private sector business that was owned by the Government for a little while there, after the Unions demanded a piece of the action?! How was that a private run business dealing? The unions where handed gobs. They run the company into the ground with there demands and then reap the benefits?!
Does seem fair. No matter what the idiots say, GM made huge profits last year.
This is a fair deal and I am not any UAW supporter in any way.
The fact was in the past profit or loss the UAW got their money and benefits. Today they get money based on profits. This is fair as both sides have to work together on this and if they do they both win. If they don’t they both lose.
When everyone has skin in the game it makes for better results.
Does make me wonder what Magirus does to “earn” a living. I understand legitimate, varied opinions, but to always be that nasty and adversarial? Time to enter adulthood, honestly.
Or Rehab!
Not only did the rank and file give up wage increases to help GM , but the retirees also took a hit during the bankruptcy . One thing that many people don’t raelize is GM has far fewer workers than they use to so the profit sharing checks are bigger .
And it is truly a mistake to blame the line workers for the ignition recalls . Those parts are designed by engineers and built in another facility and shipped to the assembly plant to be installed . So people to make erronious comments that they build garbage just shows how uninformed they are .
It’s the robots fault!