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The last time GM workers went on strike, it was a different economic climate

Sep 17, 2019
The country was heading into the Great Recession during the 2007 walkout. A lot has changed for the company and the economy.
Jennifer Odum, a United Auto Workers member who is employed at the General Motors Flint Assembly plant in Michigan, sits on the curb as she strikes on Sept. 16.
Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images

No deal: Auto workers strike against GM in contract dispute

Sep 16, 2019
Workers shut down 33 manufacturing plants in nine states across the U.S., as well as 22 parts distribution warehouses.
Members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) who are employed at the General Motors Co. Flint Assembly plant in Flint, Michigan, hold signs and react as workers drive out of the plant as they go on strike early on September 16, 2019.
JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP/Getty Images

Stay or move? Laid-off GM workers face a tough choice

Aug 6, 2019
GM says it has jobs for nearly every one of the 2,800 laid-off workers, but they must decide whether they're willing to relocate.
Lincoln Fegley and his brother Joshua Fegley move furniture into Lincoln's new home in Troy, Mo. (Courtesy of the Fegley family)

Ford layoffs necessary to fund bets on its future

May 21, 2019
The future of the auto industry is uncertain as ride-sharing, self-driving vehicles and other technologies evolve.
Cars are reflected in the grill of a new Ford truck in Richmond, California.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Tax credit for GM's electric cars starts to phase out

Mar 28, 2019
On April 1, the credit will drop by 50 percent.
Visitors admire the Chevy Volt at the annual auto engineering exhibition in Yokohama, suburban Tokyo on May 19, 2011.
YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images

GM reports strong fourth-quarter earnings

Feb 6, 2019
General Motors released positive fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday. This comes just two months after the car manufacturer pledged to eliminate several car models and reduce its workforce by 14,000 jobs. GM says the planned factory closures and layoffs will save the company at least $2 billion this year. Robust pickup truck and SUV sales have helped GM […]
General Motors CEO Mary Barra holds a media briefing prior to the start of the 2015 GM Annual Meeting of Stockholders at GM world headquarters June 2015 in Detroit, Michigan. 
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

GM's profit outlook is rising after announcing restructuring in November

Jan 11, 2019
Back in November, General Motors unloaded a big bummer of an announcement: five plant closures, about 15,000 layoffs and the dispensing of several car models. GM said all that would save $4.5 billion by 2020. Today, GM CEO Mary Barra said the company expects 2018 earnings will be stronger than previously expected and said 2019 […]

For public good, not for profit.

GM Canada's company town has learned from past layoffs

Dec 6, 2018
As the automaker's Oshawa, Ontario, plant has shed jobs, the local economy has been forced to diversify.
Image of the General Motors plant and headquarters in the 1940s.
Courtesy of the Archival Collection at the Oshawa Museum

What business investment says about our economy's future

Nov 28, 2018
After the tax law passed last year, Republicans argued that companies would take their tax savings and make big investments in themselves — plants, equipment, trucks, that sort of thing. But over the last year, there are signs that business investment is slowing. GM’s plans to shut down five plants are just the latest example. Economists […]

GM pursues winning skill set with big layoffs

Nov 26, 2018
General Motors is shutting down production of some of its less-profitable vehicles, closing some plants and cutting an estimated 14,000 jobs. It will double its investment in autonomous and electric cars in the next two years in an effort to get ahead of major changes in the automotive landscape in America.  Click the audio player […]
A sign is viewed at the General Motors Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly as they announced the closing of multiple facilities including this one on November 26, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan.
JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP/Getty Images