OEMs

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

October 30, 2023

The United Auto Workers (UAW) reached a tentative agreement with General Motors on Monday.

“Like the agreements with Ford and Stellantis, the GM agreement has turned record profits into a record contract,” the union said in a statement on Monday afternoon.

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.

Ethan Bernard

Ethan Bernard is managing editor for Steel Market Update. He previously worked for American Metal Market as a copy editor in the New York office for two years, starting in 2008. Later, he copy edited AMM’s monthly magazine on a freelance basis from 2015 until 2017. With experience in financial copywriting and textbook publishing, he holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and an MFA. in Creative Writing from New York University. He can be reached at ethan@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7871.