The UAW Has Now Reached a Tentative Agreement With Each of the Big Three
The deal with General Motors, the last of the major U.S. automakers to settle, could put an end to the union’s historic Stand-Up Strike. But now it’s up to the members.
Jake Johnson
The United Auto Workers on Monday secured a tentative agreement with General Motors that reportedly includes a 25% general wage increase over the life of the four-and-a-half-year contract as well as cost-of-living adjustments.
According to Bloomberg, the UAW’s agreement with GM has similar economic terms as the historic tentative deal the union reached with Ford last week and a subsequent agreement with Stellantis over the weekend.
With the GM deal, the UAW has now reached a tentative contract agreement with each of the Big Three U.S. automakers, putting an end — at least for now — to the union’s historic six-week strike that involved nearly 50,000 workers. UAW members still must ratify the agreements, but they are set to return to work during the voting process.
All three of the tentative agreements include 25% wage boosts, nearly three times the size of the 9% raises that GM and Ford offered when contract negotiations began in July. Stellantis initially offered union members a 14.5% raise.
The UAW originally demanded 46% wage increases, citing the automakers’ massive profits over the past 10 years and surging CEO pay. Under the Ford and Stellantis deals, many workers would see raises well beyond 25% due to cost-of-living increases.
The UAW’s deal with GM comes less than 48 hours after the union launched a surprise expansion of its strike against the major automaker, calling on workers to walk off the job at the company’s major Spring Hill Assembly plant in Tennessee.
Last week, GM reported record-breaking third-quarter revenue of $44.1 billion — and the UAW responded by striking at the company’s most profitable plant in North America.
This story was first posted at Common Dreams.
