UAW reaches deal with GM, ending strike against (all) Detroit automakers

• Pay for veteran workers at Detroit Three to rise by 33%
• UAW won right to strike future plant closures
• Contract will boost GM labor, pension costs $7 bln -sources

Excerpted from Reuters report Oct. 30, 2023
by David Shepardson & Joseph White

Oct 30 (Reuters) – General Motors and the United Auto Workers  struck a tentative deal on Monday, ending the union’s unprecedented six-week campaign of coordinated strikes that won record pay increases for workers at the Detroit Three automakers. [Previously, deals were struck with Ford and Stellanis.]

The accord follows deals the union reached in recent days with Ford Motor (F.N) and Chrysler-owner Stellantis (STLAM.MI) – significant victories for auto workers after years of stagnant wages and painful concessions following the 2008 financial crisis.

“We wholeheartedly believe our strike squeezed every last dime out of General Motors,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a video address. “They underestimated us. They underestimated you.”

The union officially suspended its strike against the Detroit Three. UAW local leaders will come to Detroit on Friday to consider the deal with GM, before taking terms to all union workers for ratification.

“We are looking forward to having everyone back to work across all of our operations,” said GM CEO Mary Barra.

The new contracts will significantly raise costs for the automakers. The companies and some analysts have said the deals will make it harder for the Detroit Three to compete with electric-vehicle leader Tesla (TSLA.O) and nonunion foreign brands such as Toyota Motor (7203.T).

The UAW won from GM roughly the same package of wage increases agreed with the other two automakers. Pay for veteran workers will rise by 33% and GM will give $2,500 in five payments to retirees through 2028.

Sources have said pension benefits were a sticking point in the UAW’s negotiations with GM, which has more retirees than Ford or Stellantis.

Fain said the union’s move on Saturday to strike a key GM engine factory in Spring Hill, Tennessee, “landed the knockout blow” that got the deal.

The contract reverses years of efforts by GM to create lower-paid groups of UAW workers at units such as component plants, parts warehouses and electric vehicle battery operations. It puts workers at GM’s battery joint-venture with South Korea’s LG Energy under the national agreement.

Fain said some workers at GM’s component operations will get pay increases of as much as 89%.

The contract also restricts use of lower paid temporary workers. “We have slammed the door on having a permanent underclass of temporary workers at GM,” Fain said.

The UAW also gained more sway over the companies’ investment decisions by securing the right to strike over future plant closures.

UAW Leaders Discuss Strike-Ending Deal with Stellanis (#2 of 3)