GM deal held up by skilled trade workers’ rejection

Earlier Friday, workers at an engine plant in Tonawanda, N.Y., gave the agreement a narrow 51 percent approval, but Local 909 at a transmission plant in Warren, Mich., rejected it by a 54 percent to 46 percent margin.

The UAW said it would not deem the contract as ratified.

The UAW will be meeting with those workers before deciding its next move.

Both skilled trades and production workers must ratify the deal separately.

The sources wished to remain anonymous because the union and company have not released details of the proposed contract. Skilled-trade workers generally were opposed because they aren’t eligible for a $60,000 retirement incentive available to older production workers.

There was no immediate comment from GM.

UAW President Dennis Williams and UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada held a conference call with UAW-GM local presidents and shop chairs on Friday afternoon during which they advised local leadership to meet with trades workers by early next week, according to the Detroit News.

General Motors Co.’s tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers was rejected by skilled-trades workers, preventing ratification of a contract that would have delivered more than $2 billion in improved wages and benefits over the deal’s four-year term. Skilled tradesman may also want work rules that narrowly define what work each of them can do, Shaiken said. “Working with our UAW partners, we have reached a tentative agreement for the next four years for our employees and our business”, said John Fleming, Ford manufacturing chief, in a statement.

UAW leaders hoped that those workers provided momentum for ratification after union members at two plants delivered mixed results over the weekend.

The contract approved by Fiat Chrysler workers established a pattern of pay increases for hourly workers, starting at $17 an hour and progressing to almost $30 an hour over eight years. GM’s pact includes $1.9 billion of investment at 12 USA facilities, creating or retaining 3,300 jobs at a dozen plants through 2019.

But GM is doing better financially than Fiat Chrysler. The UAW labor bill equaled less than 5 percent of GM’s revenue in North America a year ago, down from almost 16 percent in 1999 and 11 percent in 2007, CAR’s research shows.