Two strikes that have idled General Motors' North American production are already among the most costly for the world's No. 1 automaker: $1.18 billion and counting.
GM Vice President Donald Hack-worth gave no indication Tuesday that the automaker is ready to back down from its position, despite the costs of the longest strikes at GM since a 67-day walkout in 1970."Plants that continue to lose millions of dollars each year because of noncompetitive work practices prevent GM from being a strong contender in the marketplace," he said in a recorded message to GM employees. "We can no longer run our business that way."
The strikes by 9,200 workers in Flint have idled more than 162,700 other GM hourly workers at 26 assembly plants and more than 100 parts plants in the United States, Mexico and Canada.