Members of General Motors’ United Auto Workers union voted in a close race, marking the official end of a high-stakes labor struggle in one of the nation’s major industries, according to a tally of results from all unions. ratified the tentative contract. The union posted this to local GMs on Thursday.
The deal received support from 55% of about 36,000 members voting, but majorities at several major GM plants voted against it. A union spokesperson confirmed the accuracy of the tally but declined to comment further.
Ford’s preliminary deal with Stellantis, which makes brands such as Jeep and Chrysler, appears headed toward approval by a wide margin, with near-perfect results.
The agreement is similar among the three automakers and increases the maximum wage for production workers from $32 to more than $40, a 25% increase over four and a half years. The deal was reached last month after a six-week wave of strikes that hobbled businesses. The strategy was spearheaded by the union’s new president, Sean Fein, who had vowed to take a tougher negotiating stance than his predecessor.
But taken together, these votes suggest that opposition to the deal was louder than the worker votes that ended notable contract battles in other industries this year.
Members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters recently approved a new contract with United Parcel Service with 86 percent support, as well as a new contract with the Writers Guild of America and Hollywood studios with 99 percent support. It was done.
Across the three automakers, opposition to the deal was primarily due to the fact that even though the deal offered significant benefits to new workers, the proposed contract would do little to make up for years of concessions and stagnant wage growth. It arose from veteran workers who felt they weren’t good enough.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t get the pay increases we deserved,” said Brian Walroth, who has worked for more than 15 years at a major GM truck assembly plant in Flint, Michigan.
Several longtime employees of the three major automakers said that even after receiving significant benefits from new contracts, they won’t make more money than they did when they started their careers.
Curtis March, who works at Ford’s Chicago assembly plant, said that in 1990, the company’s highest wage for production workers was about $18 an hour. That’s more than $41 today, adjusted for inflation. In the first year of his new contract he will earn approximately $36.
Mr. March said the agreement would likely be passed at Ford to appease modern employees, who outnumber veterans like him.
Sophia Rada Contributed to the report.