UAW Strike Expands To General Motors' Largest Plant

The United Auto Workers strike added 5,000 employees to General Motors' plant in Arlington, TX, the automaker's largest.

The move came on the same day GM announced its profit had fallen in the third quarter due to the labor strike.

The Arlington plant assembles some of GM's most profitable vehicles, including the Chevy Tahoe, Chevy Suburban, GMC Yukon, and Cadillac Escalade.

"Another record quarter, another record year. As we've been saying for months: record profits equal record contracts," UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement. "It's time for GM workers and the entire working class to get their fair share."

General Motors had announced earlier Tuesday that its profit had fallen by 7.3% in the third quarter compared to the same period in 2022, to $3.06 billion.

The strike is costing the company $200 million per week, according to Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson in a briefing with reporters, as reported by Reuters. The company has also withdrawn its guidance for profit in 2023.

In a letter to shareholders, Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra addressed the workers' strike, stating that GM had offered a "record contract" to the UAW for weeks. The letter was released before the announcement of the new GM unit on strike.

"It's an offer that rewards our team members but does not put our company and their jobs at risk," Barra wrote in the letter. "Accepting unsustainably high costs would jeopardize our future and GM team member jobs, and jeopardizing our future is something I will not do."

With the addition of the Arlington plant, UAW stated that 45,000 workers from the three major automakers are now on strike. The walkout began on Sept. 15 in three assembly plants of GM, Ford and Stellantis. There are now eight assembly plants and 38 parts distribution centers in 22 states participating in the movement, according to UAW.