GM Offers 10% Wage Increase, $5,500 Ratification Bonuses to UAW Just 7 Days Before Contracts Expire

General Motors on Thursday made public a series of economic offers sent to the United Auto Workers' bargaining committee that include a 10% increase in wages and a partial reduction of the automaker's two-tier wage system.

The union issued its response about an hour later, rejecting the proposal out of hand.

"After refusing to bargain in good faith for the past six weeks, only after having federal labor board charges filed against them, GM has come to the table with an insulting proposal that doesn’t come close to an equitable agreement for America’s autoworkers," UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement posted Thursday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

The UAW, which represents 146,000 autoworkers employed by GM, Stellantis and Ford Motor Company, has been locked in slow-moving negotiations with the automakers since July. If the automakers fail to agree to a tentative labor contract by 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 14, the union has threatened to go on strike, which could cause as much as $5.6 billion in economic losses after just 10 days, according to experts.

GM is offering a 10% wage increase for most employees, which would be the largest wage increase since the union's 1999 contract and 67% higher than its 2019 and 2015 contracts. Additionally, the proposal includes a $6,000 one-time payment to account for inflation and $5,000 in inflation-protection bonuses over the course of the four-year contract.

The company also said it would rejigger its wage system to reduce the time it takes for "in-progression employees" to hit the maximum wage rate by 25%, providing a 56% wage rate increase over the contract.

Current temporary employees will receive a 20% increase, to $20 per hour, under the proposal. The automaker is also offering to recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday and give all employees a $5,500 ratification bonus.

"Our offer includes well-deserved wage improvements that far exceed the 2019 agreement and reward you for your hard work," GM's executives said in a statement. "We still have work to do, but we wanted to make this offer to show our good faith efforts to keep the process moving."

The automakers’ proposals fall far short of what Fain himself calls the union's “audacious” demands, which include a 46% wage increase, a 32-hour workweek and the elimination of the automakers' two-tier wage system. The union argues its demands are reasonable given the companies' surging profits, although the automakers have largely rejected the proposals.

“GM either doesn’t care or isn’t listening when we say we need economic justice at GM by 11:59pm on September 14th,” Fain said in a statement Thursday. “The clock is ticking. Stop wasting our members’ time. Tick tock."

While the union was expected to meet with GM Thursday to hear the company's economic demands, it was not expected that the automaker would make them public. The company has been under increased pressure over the last week after Fain filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that GM and Stellantis have refused to negotiate in good faith.

For its part, Stellantis said Wednesday it plans to give the UAW a counter offer to the union's economic demands by the end of this week, according to Reuters. The UAW on Wednesday made a counterproposal on economic issues to Ford, per Reuters.