Ford, UAW have reached tentative contract

They also give pay increases to longtime workers for the first time in a decade.

“This agreement is significant for our members in that it creates a clear path for economic advancement for active members and rewards veteran employees for their sacrifices in recent years”, said UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles.

United Auto Workers President Dennis Williams speaks in July as General Motors CEO Mary Barra, background left, listens during a ceremony to mark the opening of contract negotiations in Detroit.

After months of back-and-forth talks, threats and deadlines, the United Auto Workers have, tentatively, reached new labor agreements with all the Detroit Three automakers. Once that inquiry has concluded, the UAW’s global Executive Board shall meet to determine what appropriate steps shall be taken. But it can not change parts of the agreement that are “common to all members”, the union statement said.

Details of Ford’s agreement will be revealed to local union leaders at a meeting on Monday.

A GM spokeswoman would not comment specifically on the skilled trades rejection.

“The agreement, if ratified, will help lead the Ford Motor Company, our employees and our communities into the future”, read a statement from the company.

Union officials said 65 percent of the members of UAW Local 1714 voted in favor of the new deal and 72 percent of the members of Local 1112 said yes, too.

The GM deal is more generous than the one that the UAW recently negotiated at Fiat Chrysler. From 2011 through the expiration of the current contract the UAW was barred from striking under terms of reorganization following the bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler.

Late Wednesday night, Local 1005 at GM’s metal center in Parma, Ohio, posted results showing 53 percent of its 1,045 voting members cast no votes.

Under the unratified contract, new hires would start at $17 an hour and see wage increases each year through the eighth year of employment, when their wage will reach almost $30. Those contracts eliminate a two-tiered wage system at US plants over eight years.

The figure includes both a $8,500 signing bonus paid out if the contract is ratified and a $1,500 advance on the profit-sharing checks slated to be distributed early next year, say the people briefed on the contract details.

There are also concerns among thousands of temporary, or “flex”, workers, who would receive a $2,000 signing bonus and less generous health care than their permanent co-workers, if the contract is ratified.

GM’s proposed contract also offers $60,000 for up to 4,000 eligible employees who agree to retire next spring.

Despite that temporary setback, the solid majority of GM’s union workers approved the deal. The UAW labor bill equaled less than 5 percent of GM’s revenue in North America previous year, down from almost 16 percent in 1999 and 11 percent in 2007, CAR’s research shows.