The American manufacturer General Motors concluded an agreement in principle with the UAW automobile union on Monday, October 30, a few days after its competitors Ford and Stellantis, affected, like it, by a strike since mid-September. Asked by Agence France-Presse (AFP) whether there was a preliminary agreement between United Auto Workers and GM negotiators, a source close to the negotiations responded: “Yes,” without further details. this stage.
Several American media had reported a little earlier the conclusion of a preliminary agreement between the two camps, the CNBC channel emphasizing that the discussions had continued until the early hours of Monday to finalize it. No details on its content were immediately filtered. Contacted by AFP, GM and the union declined to comment.
A few hours after the announcement, the President of the United States, Joe Biden welcomed the “historic” social agreements concluded between the UAW union and the three giants of the automobile industry General Motors, Stellantis and Ford, after several weeks of strike . “These record agreements reward workers in the automobile industry who made a lot of sacrifices to keep the sector operating” during the great economic crisis of 2009, said the American president.
A simultaneous strike
The movement was triggered on September 15 due to lack of agreement on the expiry of collective agreements, mobilizing at its peak more than 45,000 of the 146,000 registered with the UAW working for these three major historic American manufacturers. It was the first time since the union’s founding in 1935 that the Big Three were targeted by a simultaneous strike, which grew in intensity over the roughly six weeks it lasted.
After calling for walkouts at secondary plants and parts distribution centers, the UAW struck hard by targeting the largest and “most lucrative” plant in each of the three groups in Detroit, Michigan. . Ford’s $25 billion-a-year Kentucky Truck Plant was included in the strike on October 11. The manufacturer reached an agreement in principle on October 25, after 41 days of strike, and Stellantis (Chrysler, Jeep, etc.) did the same three days later.
Ford “put 50% more on the table than when we walked out,” rejoiced Shawn Fain, president of the UAW, when announcing the agreement with the manufacturer. “Once again, we have obtained what we were told was impossible just a few weeks ago,” he noted on Saturday, announcing the agreement with Stellantis.
Job creation and base salary increase
These agreements provide for salary increases over the duration of the four-year collective agreements, cost of living adjustment measures, social benefits, improvements for retirees among others. They also contain specificities depending on the group, such as at Stellantis in terms of employment.
The group has in fact committed to creating 5,000 positions even though it had planned cuts, notably in the context of the criticized closure of a factory in Belvidere (Illinois) which is “saved”, according to Rich Boyer, vice -president of the UAW. “We won a new vehicle in Belvidere,” he said Saturday. The agreement with Stellantis calls for a 25% increase in base salaries by 2028, according to the UAW.
Ford also agreed to a 25% increase in base pay. This is lower than the 40% that Shawn Fain demanded when the strike launched, but it is significantly higher than the 9% proposed by the group in August.
The agreements in principle must still be validated by a national commission of the union then ratified by a vote of its members, which could take two weeks, reported a source close to the negotiations last week. The union has already announced that Ford and Stellantis employees will return to work without waiting for these votes.
