It was a decisive weekend for the United Auto Workers and the Detroit 3 automakers, with the union reaching tentative agreements with General Motors on Saturday and Stellantis early Monday morning after similarly settling the score in negotiations with Ford last week.
The GM agreement occurred just hours after thousands of workers at its Spring Hill, Tennessee, assembly plant joined the strike ranks. The facility makes the Cadillac crossover (including the Lyriq electric vehicle) and the GMC Acadia large crossover.
United Auto Workers and Stellantis negotiators reached a tentative new four-year contract Saturday, clearing the way for workers to return to plants after some of them spent as long as 44 days on picket lines.
“Our union is once again victorious,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a video to union members. “Once again, we have achieved what just weeks ago we were told was impossible. At Stellantis in particular, we have not only secured a record contract, we have begun to turn the tide in the war on the American working class. And we truly are saving the American dream.”
Unlike traditional UAW strikes, workers will return to plants immediately instead of waiting until ratifying the deal to end the strike. When the UAW reached its deal with Ford last week, officials said putting Ford in a superior position to produce vehicles put pressure on GM and Stellantis to match what Ford had offered the union.
“We are disappointed by the UAW’s action in light of the progress we have made. We have continued to bargain in good faith with the UAW, and our goal remains to reach an agreement as quickly as possible,” GM officials said in response to the strike extension.
Earlier UAW negotiations coverage:
- UAW, Ford Announce Tentative Agreement, Ending Strike for 20,000
- CFO: GM Will Need to ‘Look at Efficiencies Across the Board’ After New UAW Deal
- UAW Launches 2nd Surprise Strike, This Time at Dodge Ram Plant
- UAW Takes Swing with Surprise Strike at Kentucky Truck Plant
- UAW Strike Update—A New Strike at Mack Trucks, But No New Detroit 3 Sites
- UAW President Announces New Strike Targets
- UAW Workers Want Work-Life Balance. It's Exactly What the Industry Needs
- The UAW Strike Is a Test Case for Biden-omics
In traditional UAW strikes, the union has taken all of its workers off the line at once, such as in 2019 when union members walked off their jobs for about six weeks. In those cases, the UAW went on strike against one automaker at a time. This year’s “Stand Up Strike” was different in that the union went on strike against GM, Ford and Stellantis simultaneously, but only pulled some workers off the line. Fain then escalated the strike by taking more plants down throughout the past 45 days.
Stellantis North America Chief Operation Officer Mark Stewart welcomed the deal, saying in a prepared statement, “We look forward to welcoming our 43,000 employees back to work and resuming operations to serve our customers and execute our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan to maintain Stellantis’ position at the forefront of innovation.”
Stellantis's tentative contract closely mirrors the deal the union reached with Ford last Thursday:
- 25% pay raises, 11% at ratification wit the rest doled out in portions throughout the contract—the figure could climb as high as 30% if inflation remains high
- Cost-of-living-adjustments (COLA) return, potentially raising that 25% wage increase figure
- The right to strike over proposed plant closures
- Faster progression from starting wages to full UAW scale
- Improved pension and 401(k) benefits
In addition, Stellantis agreed to reopen its Belvidere, Illinois, plant to make a new mid-sized pickup and to build a battery plant there.
“Going into these negotiations, the company was explicit, they wanted to cut 5,000 jobs across Stellantis. We were looking at a net loss of jobs,” Fain said. “We turned it all the way around. By the end of this agreement, Stellantis will be adding 5,000 jobs.”
UAW members still must ratify the contracts with Ford, Stellantis and GM. Ford votes should take place this week.
More UAW negotiations coverage:
- UAW Expands Strike to 38 GM, Stellantis Parts Distribution Centers
- The ‘Unprecedented’ UAW Strike Was Very Predictable
- UAW Strike Update—Ford, GM Lay Off Workers
- Opinion: UAW Punches Well Above the Belt in its Stand Up Strike
- UAW Strike All But Certain
- What’s the Deal with the UAW Contract Talks? Labor Negotiations Explained
- UAW Votes to Authorize Strikes Against Big Three
The Stand Up Strike began with one assembly plant for each automaker—Stellantis’ Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio; Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant near Detroit where workers make the Bronco SUV and Ranger pickup; and GM’s Wentzville Assembly Plant (near St. Louis, Missouri) where workers make light pickups and commercial vans.
As it escalated the strike, the UAW took down several high-profile plants for all three companies, but it had spared GM from surprise work stoppages – a tactic it used for Ford and Stellantis. That ended shortly after the Stellantis deal with the sudden closure of Spring Hill.
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