GENERAL MOTORS STRIKE - What's at Stake

"How General Motors strike reflects pivotal moment for U.S. auto industry" PBS NewsHour 10/3/2019

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SUMMARY:  A national strike by the United Auto Workers is now in its 18th day.  The walkout of 46,000 employees affects more than 50 General Motors sites, and although the two sides continue to talk and are said to be making progress, several key issues remain to be resolved.  William Brangham talks to Micki Maynard, a journalist who follows the automotive industry in Detroit, about the stakes for each side.

ON STRIKE- GM vs UAW

"What’s at stake for GM and other automakers with UAW strike" PBS NewsHour 9/16/2019

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SUMMARY:  Nearly 50,000 workers at General Motors plants across the country went on strike at midnight Sunday, bringing production to an immediate halt.  It’s the first nationwide work stoppage since 2007 for United Auto Workers, which says it hasn't been able to agree with management on key issues like pay raises and limits on using temporary workers.  John Yang reports and talks to USA Today’s Nathan Bomey.

"Elizabeth Warren joins GM picket line as strike enters day 7" PBS NewsHour 9/22/2019

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SUMMARY:  Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren joined the General Motors strike in Detroit on Sunday, calling for GM to be held “accountable.”  For the last seven days, nearly 50,000 members of the United Automobile Workers Union have gathered at picket lines across the country, in the largest strike in the U.S. in over a decade.  Phoebe Wall Howard of the Detroit Free Press joins Megan Thompson for more.

Non-Detroit Three

NEW ENGLAND - Employees Strike to Save Job of Company President

Form the annals of greed vs doing what is right.

"Bare shelves for Market Basket as employees and shoppers unite in profit-sharing fight" PBS NewsHour 8/8/2014

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JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  You almost never see employees hit the streets to save the job of their company’s president.  But that scene is playing out in a most unusual battle in New England this summer, one involving a supermarket chain, a deep family feud, and set against the backdrop of big debates over wages, benefits, corporate profits and inequality.

Our economics correspondent, Paul Solman, has the story, part of his ongoing reporting Making Sense of financial news.

PAUL SOLMAN (NewsHour):  In Tewksbury, Massachusetts, it was hellishly hot the other day, but that didn’t deter a holy ruckus.

MAN:  Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us today as a new day, even though we find ourselves in the same situation as yesterday, without our true leader, Arthur Demoulas.

PAUL SOLMAN:  That’s Arthur T. Demoulas, former president of Market Basket supermarkets, one of New England’s most successful retailers, with 71 stores, sales of $4.6 billion last year, 25,000 employees with above-average compensation and profit-sharing, and two million customers who enjoy below-industry prices.

But Arthur T. was fired in June by a board of directors controlled by Arthur S. Demoulas, who seems to think his cousin, Arthur T., was spending stockholder money too liberally.  Neither cousin is giving interviews, but the basic fact is clear enough.  The family-owned business has ground to a halt.

In mid-July, truck drivers and warehouse workers walked off their jobs, a non-union strike in support of their employee-friendly leader.