DETROIT, Mich.—General Motors and the United Auto Workers are making progress toward reaching a deal that would end the 11-day-old strike, representatives for both sides said Sept. 26. But the UAW’s desire to reopen closed plants and gain more equal pay and job security for temporary workers remain points of dispute. “I don’t think there’s a lot of issues left,” former GM labor-relations director Art Schwartz told the Detroit Free Press. “But the temporary worker issue is a tough one and the plant issue is another.” About 7% to 10% of GM’s U.S. 48,000 hourly workers are temps, who often stay classified as temps for years while working for less than half union scale. “The union went ahead and employed a lot of people. Got them out of minimum wages. Gave them a better way to afford to live above poverty,” Local 598 member Patricia Churchill, a temp for three and a half years at GM’s Flint plant, said while picketing. “I want to let other people know that I’m here for the long haul.” The company uses temps to lower labor costs and have the flexibility to lay them off when sales are slow. Read more
