General Motors, UAW reach a tentative deal. How much of a raise will auto workers get?
After less than a week, the 5,000 workers who walked off the job at General Motors Arlington during the United Auto Workers strike are heading back to work. UAW’s strike has officially ended against each of the Big Three automakers — GM, Ford and Stellantis.
UAW reached a tentative deal with GM Monday morning, the union announced on social media platforms Facebook and X Monday afternoon.
UAW has been on strike for about six weeks against the Big Three automakers. The auto union reached a tentative agreement with Ford last week and one with Stellantis over the weekend.
“The result is one of the most stunning contract victories since the sit down strikes in the 1930s,” UAW President Shawn Fain said on the social media Monday. “We were relentless in our fight to win a record contract, and that is exactly what we accomplished.”
The tentative deal between the UAW and GM involves a 25% general pay increase and adjustments for cost of living. Over the four years and eight months the contract spans, wages would increase 30%.
“This will be the most lucrative contract for salaried GM workers in their history,” Fain said on social media.
UAW members are expected to vote on the tentative agreement later this week to finalize the contract terms. Striking workers will return to their jobs in the meantime.
“GM is pleased to have reached a tentative agreement with the UAW that reflects the contributions of the team while enabling us to continue to invest in our future and provide good jobs in the U.S.,” GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra said in a statement. “We are looking forward to having everyone back to work across all of our operations, delivering great products for our customers, and winning as one team.”
Since the UAW strike began on Sept. 15, more than 45,000 UAW workers have gone on strike across the nation.
GM makes many of its best-selling vehicles in Arlington, including Chevrolet Tahoes and Suburbans, GMC Yukons and Cadillac Escalades.
Arlington Mayor Jim Ross told the Star-Telegram on Wednesday he was “confident” GM and the UAW would reach a resolution.
“Those two entities both have a strong desire to resolve their differences,” Ross told the Star-Telegram. “We’ve seen the strikes happen before, and they work things out. They have a strike going on now. I’m very confident that the people behind the scenes are working night and day to resolve those things.”
David Jacobs, a management professor at American University and expert in labor relations, said the GM Arlington walk out was significant, because the North Texas plant is one of GM’s largest and most profitable.
If UAW wins something significant, it will have favorable ripple effects on the entire labor movement during the wave of strikes across the country this year, Jacobs said.
“The way bargaining works, there’s a pace to it and then things happen very rapidly at the end,” Jacobs told the Star-Telegram last week before the UAW had reached tentative agreements with the Big Three. “So I sense a little bit of a quickening of the pace that means that the parties are making a decision about where they might end up.”
Contract talks between UAW and the Big Three over the past few months have revolved around cost-of-living adjustments and inflation, the role and use of temporary manufacturing workers, the industry’s shift from pensions to 401(k) retirement plans and a tiered wage system. The union demanded a 40% pay increase as of early August.
State Rep. Nicole Collier, State Rep. Chris Turner and State Sen. Roland Gutierrez were among several officials who voiced their support of the strike on social media. President Joe Biden made history when he joined the UAW picket line in Michigan last month.
“If we stand together, if we have faith, we will win. Not just a good contract. Not just a record contract. But a contract that turns the tide,” Fain said on social media last week.
This was the first time UAW had targeted all of the Big Three manufacturers in one strike. Previously, UAW would target one company and call for a strike at all of the company’s plants.
Experts estimated this year’s UAW strike cost the auto industry about $9.3 billion last week before GM Arlington walked out.
The North Texas GM facility has significantly contributed to Arlington’s economy since the plant opened in the 1950s. The company announced a $500 million investment at GM Arlington in June for the plant to maintain existing jobs as it gears up for the next cycle of SUV production.
More than 34,000 vehicles rolled out of GM Arlington in March, setting a record for the number of cars ever produced in one month across the plant’s 70-year history in North Texas.
GM Arlington is the third largest employer in Tarrant County. It is also the top industrial taxpayer in the county as of 2022.
This story was originally published October 30, 2023 at 9:45 AM.
