Despite rampant talk about how the United Auto Workers’ stand-up strike and its resulting deals would bankrupt the automotive sector, the union strategy appears to have ended up costing the industry less than the labor strike GM endured all by its lonesome in 2019.
Companies have started reporting how much picketing set them back. Ford said union complications cost it roughly $1.3 billion while General Motors had estimated closer to $800 million right before the UAW ramped up the pressure. Stellantis threw out a multi-billion dollar setback in overall revenue. But it also stated that it probably only ended up losing about $800 million in profits — presumably meaning it lost even less dough than GM ultimately would in the end.
Earlier data shows General Motors losing $3.6 billion following the 40-day strike the UAW launched in 2019. This seems to suggest that the UAW’s new strategy of picketing all three Detroit automakers simultaneously while selecting increasingly important plants as the days rolled on was not only more effective in getting auto workers one of the best deals they’ve seen in decades but also ended up costing the industry less money overall.
Read Article