General Motors' Woes Continue as Strike Closes South African Plant

Strikes have forced GM to halt its production in South Africa

The woes continue to mount for American car manufacturer General Motors which has been forced to temporarily close its South African production plant because of striking metal workers in the country.

South Africa's National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA) is striking country-wide over a pay dispute, meaning GM is short component parts for its vehicles.

A GM spokesperson told the BBC that the firm has the means to sustain production for two weeks.

The NUMSA is demanding that its union members see their wages hiked by 12%; workers are also looking for a housing allowance before they head back to work.

More than 200,000 members are involved in the strike, which employers say will cost the South African economy $28m a day in lost output. Apparently parties are close to reaching a settlement in the dispute.

Last year, the members were on strike for a month which cost automobile manufacturers almost $2bn in lost revenues.

GM has had a torrid 2014 thus far. Since the turn of the year, it has already had to recall more than 29 million vehicles – over three times the 9.7 million it sold in 2013.

The troubled car maker has suffered writedowns expected to total $2.5bn so far this year. The first-quarter included recall costs of $1.3bn.