(Reuters) – The prolonged strike at General Motors Co (GM.N) is estimated to have hit as many as 150,000 workers in the auto industry, a report from research and consulting firm Anderson Economic Group (AEG) showed on Tuesday.
FILE PHOTO: General Motors assembly workers picket outside the General Motors Bowling Green plant during the United Auto Workers (UAW) national strike in Bowling Green, Kentucky, U.S., September 17, 2019. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston/File Photo
The strike at the No. 1 U.S. carmaker began on Sept. 16, with its 48,000 members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union seeking higher pay, greater job security, a bigger share of the automaker’s profit and protection of healthcare benefits.
About 75,000 employees of auto parts suppliers have either been temporarily laid off or have seen their wages shrink due to the slump in demand from GM, according to the AEG report.
The report’s total, for the number of workers impacted by the strike, includes about 25,000 GM salaried workers affected by the plant shutdowns.
About 5,000 workers at Michigan auto suppliers have filed for unemployment benefits as a result of the strike, the state’s Unemployment Insurance Agency said Tuesday.
The research firm estimates that the strike has resulted in a $660 million profit hit for GM and more than $412 million in direct wage losses for all employees through the third week of the strike.
GM’s share price dropped by 2.5% on Tuesday as broader indexes fell. GM’s share price has lost 9% since the strike began, slicing more than $4 billion from the automaker’s market value.
The stoppage has also led to $155 million in lost federal income and payroll tax revenue and $9.1 million in lost Michigan income tax revenue.
Talks for a new four-year labor contract took a “turn for the worse” on Sunday after the UAW rejected GM’s latest offer but the two sides were still talking.
“We continue to meet with the Company and are still not in agreement on key issues such as wages and healthcare”, UAW Vice President and Director Terry Dittes said.
Reporting by Dominic Roshan K.L. in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Tom Brown