UAW Strikes Against GM in Indiana and Wisconsin

1 November 1996

The United Auto Workers union unleashed strikes against General Motors Corporation on Tuesday night, 29 October. About 2,750 workers at the metal fabrication plant in Indianapolis, IN and 4,800 workers at the truck assembly plant in Janesvillle, WI, walked off the job on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. EST. UAW workers maintain that the strike concerns work standards, outsourcing, and health and safety issues, and have claimed that plant management has refused to negotiate over the last three years. The union's extension of a national contract was terminated at midnight on Sunday. Talks continued for two days after, with no apparent agreement.

At an industry conference on Tuesday, J. T. Battenberg III, president of GM's Delphi Automotive Systems, said that the issue concerning twelve troubled auto parts plants that GM wants to unload was still ``on the table''. The UAW wants to guarantee that at least 95 percent of union employees keep their jobs over the next three years, but GM wants the plants to be excluded from the number, maintaining that it needs to lower its costs and become competitive.

UAW President Stephen Yokich said on Monday that there was not a national strike being considered.

The Auto Channel