BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - (Reuters) - While striking workers at General Motors Co’s U.S. auto plants continue walking picket lines for a third week to demand better pay and benefits, the financial pressure has mounted for union members like Frank Lee.
Analysts estimate that GM could lose $1 billion from the labor dispute that began on Sept. 16 and is now the longest nationwide strike at the automaker since 1970. For GM, which had $24 billion in cash and marketable securities as of June 30, that cost is likely manageable.
But it’s a different story for some strikers.
Frank Lee, a United Auto Workers union member at GM’s Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, is fending off bill collectors.
“Until yesterday, I was negative in my bank account,” said Lee. “I called the bank to try and stop an insurance payment from coming out. I failed to do that; it was too late.”
Adding to the difficulty of his situation, union regulations prohibit Lee from seeking outside employment while on strike. If he finds another job, or supplements the weekly $250 strike pay, he will lose the benefits with the union.
Negotiators for the United Auto Workers and General Motors Co continued talking on Wednesday, with no word on when a deal would be agreed that would get the automaker’s U.S. assembly lines rolling again.
GM and the UAW said they traded what were described as comprehensive proposals on Tuesday. The union rejected GM’s plan, saying it fell short on wages, healthcare, job security and the treatment of temporary
