UAW Approves Contract with General Motors

The deal was passed by a slim 51.4 per cent margin, according to the union, late yesterday with 51.3 per cent of production workers voting for the deal, while 52.4 per cent skilled trades said “yes”.

A tentative deal between GM and union workers reached in October was rejected by the company’s skilled trade workers. But skilled trades workers like electricians and pipefitters rejected it, which sent negotiators back to the table. The UAW’s worldwide Executive Board concluded that the skilled trade concerns were satisfactorily met and notified General Motors of the formal ratification of the agreement.

A study released on Friday said GM and Ford per worker labor costs, of which pay is almost half, will be US$60 per hour by 2019, the final year of the new contracts. “We used to have 97 percent of the market and now we’ve got 47 percent, so it’s not like it was”, said Bernie Ricke, president of UAW Local 600, which represents workers at the F-150 plant in Dearborn.

UAW President Dennis Williams said in a statement that “our UAW members have ratified the national agreement after a long process and much debate”.

The UAW’s national leadership and Ford officials had announced the proposal November 6. “Through a fair and democratic process UAW-Ford members have delivered job security and strong economic gains for their families and communities”.

A defeat for the contract could have left Ford facing a strike for the first time in 39 years.

The contract was ratified, in part, thanks to GM agreeing to restore a few of those classifications, while retaining the ability to cross-train workers to perform a variety of tasks.

One of the biggest issues in the negotiations with the three automakers was closing the wage gap between veteran workers and more recent hires.

Now, all three of Detroit’s automakers have ratified contracts, four months after talks began between the UAW and Ford, General Motors Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

Kristin Dziczek, director of the labor and industry group at the Center for Automotive Research, said the overall cost of the two FCA deals was virtually identical, but that the second agreement gave workers less job security in exchange for letting Tier 2 workers eventually earn more money. “Don’t tell us the company can’t afford it”, said Gary Walkowicz, a bargaining committee member from Local 600 in Dearborn, who has openly opposed the deal.

Ford said it was pleased with the vote. Ford will make a $1,500-per-worker profit-sharing payment early, for a total of $10,000 paid immediately to workers.

The deal, which essentially follows the routine first establish in the contract with Fiat Chrysler, additionally calls for 1,300 new skilled trades placements.