GM is losing $200 million a week due to the car workers’ strike

On Tuesday, General Motors reported $3.1 billion in profit for the July through September quarter, a decrease of more than 7% from the same period last year, partially attributable to the United Automobile Workers union’s six-week strike.

In the last weeks of the third quarter and since the start of the fourth quarter on October 1, G.M. stated that the work stoppages had reduced company earnings before interest and taxes by approximately $200 million and $600 million, respectively, prior to the strike being extended. Additionally, the automaker calculated that the strike might cost it $200 million per week in the future. This estimate is probably going to increase because one of the automaker’s most profitable plants is now part of the strike.

G.M. presented a contract offer to the union on Friday that contained a 23 percent pay rise spread over four years. As a result, the average UAW pay would increase from $32 to almost $40 per hour. With overtime pay and profit-sharing incentives, which have exceeded $10,000 in the last two years, an employee working 40 hours a week would make almost $84,000 year at that wage.

With the costs of the UAW strike, increased warranty costs, and an uncertain economic future, G.M. said that it was rescinding its earlier prediction of full-year net income in the $9.3 billion to $10.3 billion range.