In an interview, Barra urged United Auto Workers strikers, who began their strike early Friday, to return to the negotiating table. Aiming to soothe concerns over the transition to electric vehicles, Barra touted the company's efforts at making the transition as smooth as possible and assured workers their jobs wouldn't be in jeopardy over it.
Speaking only for General Motors, Barra laid out the company's efforts to make the transition smooth and retain its workers. "One of the things we did that I think is different than some of the other automakers is we designed, internally, power units. ... We are now allocating those to our plants that used to, or build today still, the internal combustion engine," she said."So that shows General Motors's commitment to make sure we can take everyone along.
The UAW is aiming for an increase in benefits, primarily a 36% wage increase for workers over four years. It is additionally demanding the restoration of cost-of-living pay raises, abandoned for new hires in 2007, an end to tiered wages for factory jobs, a 32-hour workweek with 40 hours of pay, pension increases for retirees, and the restoration of defined-benefit pensions for new hires who only receive a 401-style retirement plan.