GM workers: “If we can't gain when they're making profits, we'll never get ... - World Socialist Web Site
Autoworkers speak out GM workers: “If we can’t gain when they’re making profits, we’ll never get anything” By Jerry White. 2 September 2015 General Motors workers voted overwhelmingly for strike action across the country last week with “yes” votes making up 97 percent of the total. After a decade-long wage freeze, workers want to abolish the two-tier wage system accepted by the UAW and recoup their lost income now that the automaker is reaping huge profits and rewarding its top investors with billions. GM, the world’s third largest automaker, made $1. 12 billion in profits in the second quarter despite falling revenue due to the economic crisis in China, Latin America and Europe. The company’s profit center was in North America, where GM made a pre-tax profit of $2. 78 billion compared with $1. 39 billion in the second quarter of last year. The UAW has kept workers in the dark about its negotiations with the automakers, while moving behind workers’ backs to introduce a third tier of even lower paid workers. The factory’s 3,200 workers build the company’s highly profitable full-size sports utility vehicles—the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Suburban and Chevrolet Tahoe, and GMC Yukon/XLYukon. Source: www.wsws.org
