General Motors gave 48,000 union workers bonuses of up to $9,000 this week, an amount even greater than their contract required.
Only about $7,000 in profit-sharing was warranted, but the company chose to tack on $2,000 more in the form of a performance bonus.
The timing for generous bonuses is interesting as the company is in the midst of major safety recalls.
GM has spent almost $3 billion, recalling 30 million vehicles and compensating accident victims.
The GM bonus is also much more than its competitors, with Chrysler giving almost $3,000 and Ford giving almost $7,000 in bonuses to its workers.
Multiple outlets say the large sum will likely help GM when negotiating a new four-year union contract this summer.
It's also worth noting outside of the recall, GM really is doing pretty well. The company turned a pretax profit of $6.6 billion in 2014 and has plans to raise the quarterly dividend.
Part of its success might be thanks to theboom in truck and SUV sales we've already seen this year. The reduction in gas prices has consumers once again willing to opt for less fuel-efficient vehicles.
This video includes images from Getty Images.
