Word: gm
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Nonetheless, even if the union decides to expand its walkout, a GM strike is unlikely to repeat the damage done to the U.S. economy by the 1970 shutdown, which helped trigger a temporary recession. The auto industry today simply does not enjoy the commanding position in the economy that it had 14 years ago. During the intervening years, banking, retailing and other service industries, plus the new high-tech fields of semiconductors and computers, have become more important, and foreign manufacturers now hold 23% of the U.S. market, vs. 15% in 1970. One American worker in six was employed...
...less than American producers, in part because the hourly wage and benefit costs of a Japanese autoworker total only about $12. By contrast, the U.S. hourly cost is $23. U.S. automakers have chosen two main solutions to meet the Japanese challenge: construction abroad and automation at home. By 1990 GM expects to be building 500,000 small cars overseas for import to the U.S. Ford is constructing a plant in Mexico with Japan's Mazda, and both Ford and Chrysler are holding talks with Korean manufacturers about building more cars there. A confidential GM study, obtained by the union...
U.A.W. leaders realized that developments like the moves abroad could mean disaster for the union. Even after seeing its membership slide by 20% over the past five years, the union figures to lose 500,000 more industry jobs by 1989 if the auto companies, led by GM, go ahead with their plans. Union leaders, therefore, decided to aim their demands for job security first at GM...
Early last week, it looked as if the autoworkers would be successful in gaining some concessions. On Monday, Alfred Warren Jr., GM's chief negotiator, presented a 20-page proposal on job security that he called "one of the most far-reaching and most important offers we've ever made." The next day, Bieber agreed that the GM plan "has the potential to be a far-reaching document," though he conceded that "we still have a great deal of work to do." But further study by the union showed that the proposal barely acknowledged its demand for less...
...noon on Thursday, the company put its second wage proposal on the table. It represented only a modest improvement over GM's earlier offer to replace annual 3% pay increases with lump-sum payments totaling $900 during the first two years of the contract. The two sides then went into marathon sessions, but progress was slow. By late Friday night, Bieber saw that there was scant chance of reaching a final agreement by the midnight deadline...