Mary Barra in 2018
GM CEO Mary Barra has released a statement addressing ongoing contract negotiations with the United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union, accusing the UAW of “upping the rhetoric and the theatrics,” rather than working towards an agreement. UAW President Shawn Fain has made multiple public accusations against GM, including not negotiating in good faith and “hiring violent scabs.” GM and the UAW have been in negotiations since July, with the union announcing strikes at all three of the Big Detroit automakers following the conclusion of the previous labor contracts on September 14th.
Barra’s latest statement was published to a GM website dedicated to providing the automaker’s latest updates on the 2023 UAW negotiations.
“As we saw this week, UAW leadership continues to expand the strike while upping the rhetoric and the theatrics. It’s clear that there is no real intent to get to an agreement,” Barra writes in the new statement. “Since negotiations started this summer, we’ve been available to bargain 24/7 on behalf of our represented team members and our company. They’ve demanded a record contract – and that’s exactly what we’ve offered for weeks now: a historic contract with record wage increases, record job security and world-class healthcare. It’s an offer that rewards our team members but does not put our company and their jobs at risk. Jeopardizing our future is something I will not do.”
Barra goes on to say that UAW leadership have sought to “drag their membership into a long, unnecessary strike to further their own personal and political agendas,” referencing leaked internal messages in which UAW Communications Director Jonah Furman reportedly states that “if we can keep them wounded for months, they don’t know what to do,” adding, “this is recurring reputations damage and operation chaos.”
Barra goes on to accuse UAW President Fain of wanting “to make history for himself” at the detriment of the UAW membership.
“Serious bargaining happens at the table, not in public, with two parties who are willing to roll up their sleeves to get a deal done,” Barra states. “The UAW is pitting the companies against one another, but it’s a strategy that ultimately only helps the non-union competition.”
The UAW is currently employing a targeted strike strategy wherein members at only certain facilities are called upon to strike, rather than all facilities all at once. The strategy is expected to provide UAW negotiators with greater flexibility. The UAW has expanded its strike twice since the initial targets named earlier this month, with additional GM and Stellantis facilities targeted one week after the initial strikes, and additional GM and Ford facilities targeted this week.
The UAW says that it will not target additional facilities if substantial progress is made in negotiations. It’s estimated that 25,300 UAW members are currently on strike, with 146,000 workers represented across all three automakers.
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I get that there is partisan rhetoric coming from both sides as they try to jockey for the best deal, but I don't get Barra's statement that "serious bargaining happens at the table, not in public" when GM is releasing their side of the bargaining table to the public.
what she is saying is that she does not like the negative publicity that the uaw is drawing attention to. see gm is perfectly content in having this strike in silent out of the way while they pretend nothing is going on. this is very much like how the railroads and big coal would handle issues back in the day.
the longer this drags on they are very well aware they cannot avoid the blame here, and that makes shareholders unhappy. and they start asking her questions and that makes her unhappy. she has msrp to raise, aint got time for this
She is the problem and the company is suffering under her leadership.Having gm going all electric by 35 is unrealistic and will cost many jobs since the majority of car buyers are not wanting electric vehicles and she is bending over for this crooked administration
The point of the GM statement is to stop the lies in public and get back to the table to talk.
Trashing GM falsely is not going to win them anything.
In the past GM CEO’s would just fold and each contract compounded till it made it impossible to build cars competitively with the new up starts like Hyundai, Kia and others with non union plants and with few retired workers.
GM built all this Grand Prix’s and Lumina’s for rental fleets or sold them at a loss as it was cheaper too keep the plants open vs lay off the workers who would get paid nearly as much as if they were working.
The UAW is going yo lose workers if the EV models go through. Some due yo less assembly others to cars from China.
Fain at time I wonder if he is an agent for China. His socialism and is he getting paid by China indirectly to damage our mfg?
Hunter is far from the only one China is paying off.
It's funny how Barra is mad.because the union is using the same tactics the company had used on the union for years . She says bargaining happens at the table.... she is not telling that she has yet to actually show up at the bargaining table herself
I think that UAW guy wants to run for political office and replace Bernie sanders as the token leftist politician.
I gotta say I agree with you on that one. There seems nothing serious about Shawn Fain. All he wants is his day in the sun as a warrior against the corporations. His strategy might end up breaking the UAW if he's not careful. Their running through their strike budget and of they do drag this out for too long GM can easily bring in several thousand migrant workers and say "last 10% who don't show up to work will receive a pay cut, not increase" all for what???? To be the hero that really isn't needed for a cut and dry negotiation?
Agree, he is doing the UAW membership no favors, he’s making you guy look unreasonable.
Your partly right. The UAW presidents are now elected by the membership so there is bound to be a lot of rheoric being spewed. A lot of UAW members felt previous appointed presidents did not have their best interests in mind.
I totally understand wanting a raise. However, a four day 32 hour work week is insane.
Corporations thought that a 40 hour work week was too much to ask for too. BTW, Other countries by law, already have a 35 hour work week.
4 day work weeks have shown to increase productivity and it creates the opportunity for more people to work. If the company wants to have 24/7 operations.
You want less employees working overtime if needed to increase production. Additional full time workers are just another expense of benefits not necessary or wanted. That's why many companies use part-time employees so they don't have to offer benefits.
and you are upping msrp. you are made for each other. pls continue the show
Affordability actually has gotten better in the past 3 years, especially compared to Ford. With inflation in the low teens, the increases to MSRP has been little, 1-2% at most for most models. Also, there is a game GM is playing called all hype no substance when it comes to the stock market. They are offering 0% financing in a time when your average auto loan is 7-8%. They loose 8-13K per unit doing that, but then they report record ATP's to brokers and get stock market kickbacks. It's a sales game. Same with their "record profits", which are half that of 2013-2016 when adjusted for inflation, and a third of what they were making 1998-2001 once inflation is taken into account, but they saw Elon Musk was able to keep the stock money rolling over at Tesla even when Tesla was in the red for more than a decade. They want the stock money
Next level mental gymnastics. I work in finance, please dont insult me like that again. If you come down to reality i'll engage you but not before.
That makes no sense.
He is the frist UAW president that was voted in office by direct vote not an electoral system and he is trying hard to win back the give aways that the union members gave up to help the big three get out of financial trouble that they got them selves into now that they are back on a good path the workers deserve to be compensated for there part in helping the corporations out of bankruptcy
No sympathy for Fain and the UAW at all. Their initial demands were ludicrous, the company’s stepped up with substantial increases and concessions but Fain is hellbent on making himself a celebrity. One thing I’d for certain, only GM, Ford and Stellantis have access to the books and know how much they can afford to give. Fain and the UAW are playing poker with no idea what their opponent is holding. Only again is playing with his constituents money and futures. I’m betting on the Big 3 in this hand.
Wasn't Fain working for Antifa?? Lol!! Or was that BLM?? Either way he's a joke looking for attention like a spoiled child.
F you Mary Barra!!
You just had a HUGE increase in your compensation. You make around $29 MILLION PER YEAR (total compensation).
And you have the AUDACITY to criticize the little guy just trying to keep his head above water. The men and women that break their bodies so that YOU can live in mansion.
Perhaps the all the executives should take a MASSIVE pay cut if you're truly worried about the future of the company. But that won't happen now, will it
Your company doesn't build good cars anymore. You've off-shored who knows how many jobs. You're turning into an electric appliance manufacturer.
It's my opinion you do NOT know how to run a car company.
You disgust me!!
Earning $80,000/year plus top-tier healthcare, profit sharing, and more is not an example of a person trying to keep their head above water.
The workers making that are in the minority now.
The Tier2 UAW members make jack squat and have very few benefits.
Mary, You could end this today, by giving them what they want. GM has been touting record profits, so they’ve got the cash for it.
GM does not have the money for it. They're having to invest more than they make into EVs because of the government push and laws. It also is a ridiculous ask of the UAW and is not in line with their job functions, nor the health of a company. GM employees already make the most out of the automakers, too.
The time has come for GM to put a great contract on the table for the workers who made the money for the Company. I could do without all the showmanship coming from the Union side of the house. GM needs to show loyalty to American workers and our country. They build more vehicles in Mexico than other Auto companies paying low wages and ship them to the USA to sell.