Shortly after General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) reported third-quarter earnings Tuesday morning, the United Auto Workers announced the expansion of its strike against the automaker.
The roughly 5,000 union employees at GM’s Arlington Assembly plant in Texas are joining the targeted strike, the union said.
The Arlington plant builds the Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban SUVs.
“Another record quarter, another record year. As we’ve said for months: record profits equal record contracts,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement. “It’s time GM workers, and the whole working class, get their fair share.”
GM responded with a statement saying it was, “disappointed by the escalation of this unnecessary and irresponsible strike.”
“It is harming our team members who are sacrificing their livelihoods and having negative ripple effects on our dealers, suppliers, and the communities that rely on us,” the company said.
Along with its quarterly results, GM said that the UAW strike has cost them $800 million to date and that it expects about $200 million per week in labor action-related costs per week going forward.
The targeted strike against GM, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) and Stellantis NV (NYSE:STLA, EPA:STLA) has steadily grown since it began in September to now include more than 45,000 UAW members, or about 31% of the union. An additional 7,000 have been laid off by the automakers since the strike began.
On Monday, roughly 6,800 UAW workers walked off Stellantis’ Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in suburban Detroit, which produces Ram 1500 full-size pickup trucks.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel