The UAW rejected an GM offer to end strike but made a counterproposal

LM Otero/Associated Press

• The UAW on Tuesday informed its striking GM members that it had rejected a contract offer from GM but made a counterproposal.
• GM's 50,000 UAW members have been on strike for over two weeks - the longest such labor action since 1982.
• GM said that it remains committed to ongoing negotiations and reaching an agreement that ends the strike.
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The United Auto Workers strike against General Motors - the largest against a major automaker since 1982 - is in its third week. On Tuesday, the union said that it had rejected a GM proposal to resolve the walkout, involving about 50,000 workers.

But it appears that progress is being made as UAW membership braces for the first $215 weekly strike paychecks to come in from the union.

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The UAW told its members that a new comprehensive offer made by GM late Monday to end a two-week-old strike was not acceptable and said it had made a new counterproposal.

In a letter to members, UAW vice-president Terry Dittes said, "This proposal that the Company provided to us on day 15 of the strike did not satisfy your contract demands or needs."

He added: "There were many areas that came up short like health care, wages, temporary employees, skilled trades and job security to name a few."

Temporary workers have been a critical point of negotations, although on health care, GM previously proposed that it would keep worker contributions low by US standards, at 3%.

A GM spokesperson told Business Insider, "We continue to negotiate and exchange proposals, and remain committed to reaching an agreement that builds a stronger future for our employees and our company."

(Reuters reporting by David Shepardson, editing by Franklin Paul.)