UAW Reaches Tentative Deal With GM. End of Strike in Sight?

The UAW said GM workers will return to work while the agreement goes through the ratification process. No specific timelines for ratification votes were provided.

“GM is pleased to have reached a tentative agreement with the UAW that reflects the contributions of the team while enabling us to continue to invest in our future and provide good jobs in the US,” GM chair and CEO Mary Barra said in a statement.

“We are looking forward to having everyone back to work across all of our operations,” she added. 

End of Strike?

The terms of the agreement are broadly similar to earlier tentative deals reached recently with Ford and Stellantis.

If the new pacts are ratified by UAW members at all “Big Three” Detroit-area automakers, it would end the strike that started on Sept. 15.

Nuts and Bolts

The union said the GM deal includes gains “valued at more than four times the gains from the union’s 2019 contract.”

“It provides more in base wage increases than GM workers have received in the past 22 years,” UAW added.

The union said the agreement includes 25% in base wage increases through April 2028. The starting wage will be bumped up even more – by 70% , according to the union. 

Tiered wages at the automakers have been a sticking point. The UAW said the GM agreement “kills several wage tiers that have divided the union.”

And it’s not just hourly workers who will see raises. “For the first time since they organized in the 1990s, GM salaried workers will receive a general wage increase, equivalent to that of hourly workers,” the UAW said.

The GM deal in addition includes a right to strike over plant closures, the union said.