“Walkouts Looming: UAW President Sounds Alert as Strike Continues

The United Auto Workers (UAW) President, Gary Jones, has warned that “additional walkouts could happen at any time” if a settlement is not reached in the ongoing strike involving 48,000 GM workers. The strike has been ongoing for more than a month and shows no signs of ending soon. The union has been locked in a drawn-out negotiation with GM over terms of a new labor contract, which expired in September of 2019. The strike is just one of many labor disputes in the auto industry that have emerged over the last few years. Jones is hopeful that the two sides can come to an agreement, but says he is prepared for a prolonged and heated dispute. “If a satisfactory resolution cannot be achieved, additional walkouts could happen at any time,” he stated in a recent interview. The goal of the UAW is to secure higher pay and better job security for workers. The union is also seeking to protect the current wage structure and halt the use of non-union production for certain parts. The negotiations have been going on for months and have not produced much progress. Talks have been complicated by GM’s reluctance to agree to the union’s demands and by the vast amount of paperwork involved in hammering out a labor policy. Both sides have expressed optimism that a settlement can be reached. The UAW leadership has warned, however, that another strike could be on the horizon if the dispute is not resolved soon. This could mean that the already drawn-out negotiations will become even lengthier and more costly.