A statement from UAW President Dennis Williams regarding the UAW-GM National

United Auto Workers said it extended the deadline for the ratification of a labor agreement with General Motors Co by a week to November 20.

The UAW on November 6 announced that 55.4 percent of GM union members overall voted “yes” on the tentative agreement.

Ilgenfritz, 55, who specializes in tractor fix, said he does not need to see skilled trades become “jack of all trades”. “Such discussions are now taking place”, UAW President Dennis Williams said in a statement issued Friday evening.

Many skilled trades workers had completely anticipated the union to ratify the deal despite their rejection. Although General Motors UAW workers approved the deal, UAW workers at Fiat-Chrysler rejected the first contract, sending their union leaders and Chrysler representatives back to the table. The union stated that results of the investigation of skilled trades workers’ issues can not change aspects of the agreement that are common to all members. “Someone will get hurt and it is going to be due to this”.

If the UAW’s executive board finds that skilled trades workers voted against the deal for reasons that are mostly economic and not unique to their classification, it can overrule the rejection. The new deal cumulative affects roughly 52,700 GM-UAW workers. But the effort stalled later in the day when the union sought additional clarification from GM over skilled trades workers’ concerns on contract language. “As a result of the IEB meeting, it has been determined, with my recommendation, that further discussion with the company was needed to clarify and address these issues”, she wrote.

A split vote between production and skilled-trades workers is rare: It happened at Ford in 1973 and again in 2011 when Chrysler’s skilled-trades workers voted down their tentative deal.

In both situations, the union’s worldwide Executive Board made a decision to affirm ratification of the contracts.

The deal also included an $8,000 signing bonus, to be paid in the second pay period after ratification.

Workers hired before 2007 would receive 3 percent raises in the first and third years of the contract and 4 percent lump-sum bonuses in the second and fourth years of the agreement.

It wasn’t clear when it would be received by workers.

Entry level workers would transfer to the exact same health care strategy as veteran workers in January and if quality objectives are fulfilled and an added $500 bonus prize workers an annual $1,000 performance bonus. Production of the new vehicle would create approximately 200 jobs at the plant, in addition to the existing 4,400 employees. Ford also has pledged to sink $1.3 billion into upgrades at the two Louisville plants, while shifting manufacturing of the Lincoln MKC crossover out of LAP.