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GM will spend $20 billion on its own stock. About 80% of its autoworkers have no pension, the union says.

It's GM's second buyback this year, after a $6 billion program and 1,140 layoffs at its Detroit EV plant.

GM will spend $20 billion on its own stock. About 80% of its autoworkers have no pension, the union says.
Stock photo. Photo by Lilian Do Khac on Unsplash. Not from the event described.

General Motors told investors on Tuesday, Oct. 20, that it will spend up to $20 billion buying back its own stock, the second buyback it has approved this year. The same day, United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain called it a "scam" and warned GM that the union "will remember" when it returns to the bargaining table in 2028.

The buyback came with a strong quarter. In its third-quarter earnings release, GM reported $50.0 billion in revenue, $3.3 billion in net income and $4.1 billion in adjusted operating profit (what GM calls EBIT-adjusted). It raised its 2026 forecast for adjusted automotive free cash flow, the cash left over after running the business, to $11.5 billion to $12.5 billion.

Buying itself back

A stock buyback is a company using its cash to purchase its own shares, which leaves fewer shares on the market so each one holds a bigger slice of the profits. GM said it finished the $6 billion program it announced in January and that its board approved the new $20 billion authorization with no expiration date, though the company can pause or stop it at any time. GM had 849 million shares outstanding on Sept. 30, down from 904 million at the end of 2025, according to the release. Reuters reported that GM has bought back about $29.5 billion of its stock since 2023.

The people who gain are the ones who own the stock, and that includes the executives paid in it. GM reported CEO Mary Barra's 2025 pay at about $29.9 million in its 2026 proxy statement, Autoblog reported. Counting the stock awards she actually cashed in, her 2025 pay came to $48.2 million, up 61.7% from 2024, according to an Automotive News and Equilar study cited by Autoblog.

The union's math

In a statement on Oct. 20, Fain called it "the largest stock buyback in US automaker history." It is twice the size of the $10 billion buyback GM announced in November 2023, weeks after the six-week UAW strike that GM said cost it about $1.1 billion, the Associated Press reported.

Fain claimed GM "has spent $30 billion on stock buybacks and dividends in the past 5 years alone," and that "just five Wall Street firms," naming BlackRock and State Street, "will get nearly $7 billion" from the new program. He also asked why "80 percent of GM's autoworkers" lack the pension and retiree health care that workers had for half a century. Those figures are the union's, and we could not independently check the 80% share or the $7 billion estimate.

The pension point matches the 2023 deal. That contract gave GM workers raises of at least 25% over its term and a 10% company contribution to their 401(k) accounts, but it did not bring back traditional pensions or retiree health care for newer hires, NPR reported when workers ratified it.

GM said in a statement to Reuters that its "first priority is investing in our business and our employees," adding: "Since 2020, we've reinvested more than $100 billion to fund our growth." The buyback also drew fire from former Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican running for U.S. Senate in Michigan, who said GM "chose to put profits over people," Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, at Factory Zero

Not every GM worker has shared in the good year. At Factory Zero, its Detroit-Hamtramck electric truck plant, GM filed a state notice for 1,140 permanent layoffs effective Jan. 5, citing "slower near-term EV adoption," CBS Detroit reported. Then GM idled the plant on March 16 and temporarily laid off about 1,300 workers until mid-April, a company spokesman confirmed to Electrek. GM has booked $11.2 billion in EV-related charges since last year, according to Reuters.

What comes next

The UAW's contracts with GM, Ford and Stellantis expire in 2028, and Fain made clear this week's announcement will follow GM into those talks.

Ryan Stygar, a California employment attorney at Centurion Trial Attorneys, said GM has favored shareholder profit over workers' welfare. "Job security and safeguards against AI disruption will absolutely be on the bargaining table," Stygar said. "Workers want to know they're not going to lose their jobs to AI, and if that's really coming, then they want, and frankly deserve, some kind of retraining or readjustment opportunities."

GM chose to reward shareholders in the same year it permanently cut more than 1,000 jobs at its flagship EV plant. We condemn GM's decision to spend $20 billion on its own stock while most of its autoworkers, by the union's count, will retire without a pension.

For GM workers, the 2028 contract fight starts well before 2028. If your plant has seen shift cuts or temporary layoffs, read our guide to the warning signs of a layoff and how to prepare.

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