General Motors (GM) and Ford are temporarily furloughing hundreds of employees due to the nearly month-long strike in the United States.

Ford and General Motors temporarily removed more than 500 employees from their duties as a result of the ongoing strike at the three largest automobile manufacturers in the United States, according to information from the two companies. GM and Ford sent home employees who were unable to work due to the strike decided by the union United Auto Workers (UAW) for more than 15 days in several assembly plants due to salary demands.

Understand the shutdown of General Motors and Ford

The UAW began a strike on September 15 at Detroit's Big Three GM, Ford and Stellantis plants, with some plants shut down despite most of the organization's unionized members continuing their activities.

On Friday, the UAW extended the move for a second time, ordering additional work stoppages at GM and Ford plants, while setting aside the stellantis due to advances in negotiations. GM said the UAW strike in Wentzvile, Missouri and Lansing, Michigan, continues to have negative ripple effects.

General Motors is sending home 130 workers in Parma, Ohio, and 34 in Marion, Indiana, who have no work to do, a company spokesperson said in an email. Ford, in turn, asked 330 employees in Chicago, Illinois and Lima, Ohio, not to come to work.

Its production system is highly interconnected and this explains why some factories are indirectly affected by the strike, according to information from Ford in a statement this Monday.

The three companies had already sent home around 3 workers, who are unable to carry out their duties due to the strike. Now the total number is 3.500 people. The strike movement exceeds the 25 thousand workers called by the UAW.

GM makes counterproposal to UAW

General Motors said this Thursday that it made a counter-proposal to the UAW, a union that represents workers in the United States and Canada, to try to end the category's strike. The strike, which began on September 15 against automakers GM, Ford and Chrysler, interrupted the production of more than 24 vehicles per week. UAW President Shawn Fain uses social media to provide weekly updates on the negotiations strike. 

Fain revealed on Monday that the union made an offer to General Motors, however the automaker reportedly felt that important gaps remained. According to Reuters, GM stated that today's counterproposal is the sixth since the start of the strike.

A source consulted on the matter stated that there are important negotiations underway with GM. The company claims the latest offer allows both the automaker and the team to prosper in the future. The estimated cost of the strike for the brand is US$200 million in the first half of the year.

Union demands salary increase

The UAW demands an immediate 20% pay raise, followed by four additional raises of 5% each. In total, there will be a 46% increase in hourly pay over the four-year term of the contract.

The UAW said Friday that GM and Ford are proposing 10% hourly wage rate increases over the next four years in their latest offers, while Stellantis, which produces cars in the U.S. market under the Jeep brands, DODGE, RAM and Chrysler are offering 14,5% increases. In comments to members, Fain called these offers offensive, given the considerable increases in automakers' profits in recent years.