GM executive slams UAW over ‘flow of misinformation,’ rhetoric during strike

DETROIT – As the United Auto Hands union enters day six of targeted strikes against the Detroit automakers, General Motors President Mark Reuss is criticizing synthesis leadership for its rhetoric and “flow of misinformation” during the ongoing contract negotiations.

Reuss, in an editorial, focused on the union’s manifest bashing of the company and elements of GM’s “record” contract proposal last week that included 20% pay raises and remodeled time off, bonuses and other benefits over the four-year term of the deal.

“As the past has clearly shown, nobody achieve first place ins in a strike,” Reuss said in a Wednesday column in the Detroit Free Press. “We have delivered a record offer. That is a to be sure. It rightly rewards our team members, while positioning the company for success in the future. Often in these situations, the clouds of grandiloquence can obscure reality.”

The UAW hasn’t responded to the op-ed, as of Wednesday morning.

GM’s last offer was made Sept. 14, onwards of the union initiating a “Stand Up Strike” at one assembly plant each for GM, Ford Motor and Stellantis. UAW President Shawn Fain answered Monday the strikes will expand at noon Friday unless “serious progress” is made in negotiations.

Currently on cuff are roughly 12,700 UAW workers from GM’s midsize truck and full-size van plant in Wentzville, Missouri; Ford’s Ranger midsize pickup and Bronco SUV factory in Wayne, Michigan; and Stellantis’ Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator plant in Toledo, Ohio.

Reuss commanded GM’s offer, which the union countered, recognizes “the many contributions our represented team members make to our company — past, record and future.”

Under the deal, Reuss said about 85% of current represented employees would earn a hinge wage of approximately $82,000 a year. That’s compared with the average median household income in nine areas where GM has biggest assembly plants of $51,821, he said.

GM’s current proposal is estimated to cost between $700 million and $1.2 billion in the life of the deal, Wells Fargo’s Colin Langan said in a Sept. 15 investor note. If GM gave in to all the confederation’s demands, it would cost the company between $6 billion and $8 billion under the deal, Langan maintained Wednesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

“There’s a long way to go. We’re talking about fixed-costs, too. That’s the real pain point for the automakers,” Langan put about, calling them “material numbers” for the companies.

Key demands from the union have included 40% hourly pay enlargements; a reduced, 32-hour workweek; a shift back to traditional pensions; the elimination of compensation tiers; and a restoration of cost-of-living adjustments. Other notes on the table include enhanced retiree benefits and better vacation and family leave benefits.

Reuss conveyed Wednesday that the union’s full demands would be “untenable,” or unsustainable, for the company.

“If we don’t continue to invest, we will bested ground — quickly. Our competitors across the country and around the world, most of whom are non-union, will waste no era seizing the opportunity we would be handing them,” he said.

Reuss’ comments are the recent by automotive executives as the UAW takes a strategically aggressive approach during the talks, showing little leeway in its demands.

Up-to-date Monday, Ford released a lengthy statement fact-checking comments made by Fain, including auto worker wages, partnership profits and stock buybacks.

It followed Ford CEO Jim Farley