Here’s What The Proposed GM-UAW Strike Deal Looks Like For Workers

  • The United Auto Workers union reached a tentative deal with General Motors this week.
  • Under the terms of the deal, full-time union workers will receive a $11,000 ratification bonus.
  • The agreement also includes pay raises and lump-sum payments throughout the new contract’s term, if workers vote to ratify the deal in its current form.
  • GM will still be allowed to move forward with closing three U.S. manufacturing plants, including the Lordstown, Ohio plant.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union released the details of its deal with General Motors Thursday, achieving higher pay, greater healthcare benefits and more job security protections for its members. While the deal could bring an end to the month-long strike, it would also allow GM to move forward with closing three American manufacturing plants.

As of Thursday afternoon, the strike continues as 48,000 workers must vote to ratify the deal. The UAW’s national council reviewed the deal, but it’s not clear whether the strike will actually end as workers vote on the deal. That is a process that could last up to two weeks, according to a Reuters report.

Currently, the ongoing strike is the longest against an American automaker since 1970.

Impact on workers, GM investment

According to the terms of the deal as published by the union, full-time hourly GM workers will get an $11,000 bonus as the deal is ratified. Temporary workers will get $4,500. The deal also fast-tracked so-called “in-progression” workers raises to top-level pay. Under the old contract, workers who started at $17 an hour would reach $28 an hour after eight years. Now, under the proposed deal, that period is shortened to four years.

By September 2023, all permanent manufacturing employees will see a pay rate of $32.32 per hour. A $12,000 profit-sharing payout cap has been removed, allowing employees to earn a $1,000 payment per $1 billion of GM’s annual profits without restriction.

GM is also reportedly moving forward with a $9 billion investment strategy in its U.S. plants over the course of the next UAW contract. However, despite the union’s firm opposition, the company will proceed with closing the Lordstown, Ohio manufacturing plant as well as two parts plants in Baltimore, Maryland and Warren, Michigan. The Lordstown plant is the most impactful, as workers gathered outside GM’s Detroit headquarters to protest the agreement. CEO Mary Barra also faced intense pressure from President Donald Trump to keep the Lordstown plant open.

One plant that will remain open, however, is the Detroit-Hamtramck plant. While it currently builds the Cadillac CT6, it will also reportedly retool to build GM’s upcoming electric pickup truck. The company’s overall U.S. investment will create or retain 9,000 UAW jobs, according to sources close to the matter, though the document did not specify where the jobs would be created.

While the GM strike may be nearing a close, the UAW also plans to negotiate with Ford and Fiat Chrysler, covering most of the same issues.

A full version of the UAW’s published hourly contract summary is below (Credit: UAW union website):

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We will publish more updates as new information is available. Stay tuned!