UPDATE: The United Auto Workers union has confirmed it reached a tentative deal with General Motors Co. on Monday morning. The agreement grants 25% in base wage increases and will cumulatively raise the top wage by 33% compounded with estimated COLA to more than $42 an hour. The starting wage will increase by 70% compounded with estimated COLA, to over $30 an hour, according to the union. GM workers will return to work while the agreement goes through the ratification process, with the UAW National GM Council convening in Detroit to review the agreement.
The United Auto Workers union has reached tentative agreements with each of Detroit’s Big Three automakers, ending the six-week “Stand Up” strike against Ford Motor Co., Stellantis NV and General Motors Co.
An agreement was struck with Ford last Wednesday, spurring a similar deal with Stellantis over the weekend. And, while an official statement about GM hasn’t been released yet, multiple media outlets have reported terms similar to those agreed to by Stellantis and Ford.
UAW President Shaun Fain and Vice President Rich Boyer asked members at Stellantis’s Toledo (Ohio) Assembly Complex, Mopar parts depots and Sterling Heights (Mich.) Assembly to return to work Saturday night after announcing the Stellantis agreement.
“At Stellantis in particular, we have not only secured a record contract—we have begun to turn the tide in the war on the American working class,” Fain said in a video posted online. “And we truly are saving the American dream.”
According to the UAW, the Stellantis agreement would see wages for some Mopar workers increase by 76%, a starting wage increase of about 67% and a top wage increase of 33%, as well as a reactivation of the cost-of-living allowance (COLA), among other items. Also included in the agreement, 1,200 workers at the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois, which Stellantis had idled in February, will return to work produce a new midsize truck. The full details of the agreement are expected to be released Sunday night.
In a statement, President Biden called the UAW/Stellantis agreements a testament to the power of unions and collective bargaining to build strong middle-class jobs.
“I want to applaud the UAW and Stellantis for agreeing to immediately bring back all of the Stellantis workers who have been walking the picket line on behalf of their UAW brothers and sisters,” Biden said.
The UAW called for the strike in mid-September, marking the first time in history the union has targeted all of Detroit’s Big Three automakers at once.
The Ford agreement increases base wage by 25% and cumulatively raises top wage by about 33%, while starting wages are hiked by about 68%, according to the UAW. In addition, COLA will be reinstated and Ford’s lowest-paid workers are due to get a 150% increase.
In Canada, Unifor called a strike against Stellantis at midnight last night and reached a tentative agreement with the autoworker early this morning. The deal follows the pattern agreements Unifor established with Ford and GM, which includes base hourly wage increases of nearly 20% and 25% for production skilled trades workers, respectively, along with the reactivation of COLA.
“I am proud of our members at every Stellantis facility for their quick and decisive action during this brief and effective strike action,” Unifor National President Lana Payne said in a statement. “This agreement will considerably improve the living standards of every Unifor member at Stellantis.”
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