[2] During the Great Recession and economic uncertainty that followed, unionized automotive workers accepted concessions to allow GM and other companies to recover.
Though GM has since received large tax breaks and returned to profitability, worker compensation remained stagnant, and the UAW took umbrage with the company's decisions to shutter American facilities and move some jobs abroad.
A two-day difference between contract expiration and the beginning of a strike is unusually short,[4] but likely motivated by the prolonged negotiations between management and the union.
[11] GM's share of the automobile market had decreased from 30% in the late 1990s to 17% by 2019, meaning the strike likely had fewer implications for the economy at large when compared to labor actions in the past.
On September 21, Senator Elizabeth Warren, running at the time for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States, joined a UAW picket line in Detroit.