DETROIT—General Motors and UAW negotiators continued bargaining Monday in the second week of the union's strike, which is now the longest widespread work stoppage by the UAW since 1985. At 12:01 a.m. Sept. 16, about 46,000 GM UAW workers at 55 GM sites in the United States went on strike after the UAW rejected an initial contract offer that GM made two hours before the contract expired at midnight Sept. 14.
Even if the UAW gets a tentative agreement with GM, the union is considering staying on strike until rank-and-file members approve that agreement, a process that could add more than a week to the length of the work stoppage, according to the Detroit Free Press.
GM has idled some plants not represented by the UAW because of parts shortages. GM's Oshawa, Ontario, plant has been idled, with about 4,000 workers temporarily laid off. That plant is scheduled to close at year's end. On Monday, the company idled parts of two of its engine plants: GM Canada's St. Catharines Propulsion Plant and DMAX engine plant in Moraine, Ohio.
DMax builds the 6.6-liter turbo diesel engine in GM’s heavy-duty pickups, a product of Flint Assembly Plant. About 550 workers at DMAX, which are represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, will be temporarily laid off.
St. Catharines builds engines for GM's pickups, full-size SUVs and some cars including the Chevrolet Corvette. About a third of the plant is still running, because it produces transmissions for CAMI, which builds the Chevy Equinox SUVs. About 700 workers there have been temporarily laid off, a GM spokesman said.
UAW Strike on GM Enters Second Week
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