The United Auto Workers union said at the weekend it would boost strike pay for 48,000 hourly workers at General Motors by US$25 a week to $275 as the strike neared the end of its fourth week.
Talks were continuing to try to resolve the longest nationwide strike at GM since 1970, both sides told Reuters.
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The UAW also said it would allow members striking to take on part time jobs without reducing their strike pay – as long as they perform picket line duties. The strike pay hike was previously set to increase on 1 January.
Also at the weekend, details of a revised GM contract offer emerged, with a Reuters source confirming GM had boosted its proposed ratification bonus by $1,000 to $9,000.
The news agency source said GM had proposed 3% pay raises in the second and fourth year of the four year contract and 3% and 4% lump sum payments in the first and fourth year respectively.
The company also would agree to make temporary workers permanent with three years of service and they would get a $3,000 bonus upon ratification of the contract.
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By GlobalDataAbout 7% of GM's hourly workforce are temporary workers.
Reuters noted GM appealed directly to UAW employees in a blog post on Friday which laid out its latest offer aimed at ending the strike, drawing an angry response from the union that the automaker was trying to "starve … workers off the picket lines".
The GM appeal highlighted the conflict that has already cost it over $1bn and has also forced it to idle about 10,000 workers in Mexico and Canada and halt operations throughout North America.
The UAW strike began on 16 September with the union seeking higher pay, greater job security, a bigger share of profit and protection of healthcare benefits. Credit Suisse estimated the loss could hit about $1.5bn and the Center for Automotive Research estimated the weekly costs to GM and the UAW strike fund at $450m and $12m, respectively.
As part of its revised offer, GM boosted the amount it plans to invest in the US to about $9bn from its previous offer of $7bn, a Reuters source said. The UAW responded with a counterproposal of its own on Friday.
Of the new total, $7.7bn would be invested directly in GM plants and the rest in joint ventures including a potential battery plant near the Lordstown, Ohio, factory that has been idled, the source told the news agency.
The company said the offer also included increased compensation through wages and one time payments, preserved industry leading healthcare benefits without increasing workers' costs and enhanced profit sharing with unlimited upside.
One of the five issues still under discussion was the fate of four US factories that GM had indicated could close, Reuters added.
