Barra on the UAW contract

“Regarding the ongoing strikes at some of our US. facilities: I know many of you are concerned about the impact of higher labor costs on our business in the United States. Let me address this head on. It’s been clear coming out of COVID that wages and benefits across the U.S. economy would need to increase because of inflation and other factors. The current offer is the most significant that GM has ever proposed to the UAW, and the majority of our workforce will make $40.39 per hour, or roughly $84,000 a year by the end of this agreement’s term,” Barra said. (AutoInformed: GM Increases Contract Offer for UAW Members)

“Since negotiations started this summer, we’ve been available to bargain 24/7 on behalf of our represented team members and our company. They’ve demanded a record contract — and that’s exactly what we’ve offered for weeks now: a historic contract with record wage increases, record job security and world-class healthcare.

“It’s an offer that rewards our team members but does not put our company and their jobs at risk. Accepting unsustainably high costs would put our future and GM team member jobs at risk, and jeopardizing our future is something I will not do.

“Clearly, given the industry’s changing pricing and demand outlook and higher labor costs, we have work to do to ensure we achieve low to mid-single-digit EBIT EV margin targets in 2025, and grow our revenue and sustain strong 8-10% EBIT margins in North America. The work has already begun and I’m confident we will achieve our targets and grow from there,” Barra said.