Contract negotiations between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and General Motors (GM) are set to resume on Friday after intense talks took place on Thursday night and into the morning, according to sources familiar with the discussions. The potential deal is based on a tentative agreement reached by the UAW with Ford Motor on Wednesday and appears to be nearing completion. Both GM CEO Mary Barra and UAW President Shawn Fain were involved in the marathon bargaining, with Fain participating virtually. Fain was also simultaneously negotiating with Chrysler parent company Stellantis. Talks with Stellantis are also progressing, but some issues still need to be resolved. The negotiations remain fluid and are scheduled to continue on Friday. Representatives from GM, Stellantis, and the UAW declined to comment on specific details of the talks.
If tentative agreements are reached, they would put an end to six weeks of targeted labor strikes by the UAW. The strikes began after the UAW failed to reach new deals with the automakers before a September 14 deadline. The UAW called back striking Ford workers after reaching a tentative deal with the company.
Ford’s deal includes significant pay increases and benefits for workers, including a 25% pay increase over the term of the agreement. Starting wages would increase by 68% to over $28 an hour, and top wages would exceed $40 an hour. The deal also reinstates cost-of-living adjustments and allows the right to strike over plant closures. Any tentative deals reached must be approved by local UAW leaders and then ratified by a majority of each automaker’s union-represented workers.
The negotiations between the UAW and the automakers have been contentious, with thousands of union members participating in strikes and picket lines. The strikes have resulted in billions of dollars in lost production for GM, Ford, and Stellantis. Ford reported that the union’s strike has cost the company $1.3 billion, and if the deal is ratified, it would increase labor costs by approximately $850 to $900 per vehicle produced.
These proposed agreements are significant for the UAW, as the union took a more confrontational and strategic approach during the negotiations. Unlike in recent history, the UAW initiated negotiations with all three automakers simultaneously, breaking from the tradition of bargaining with each automaker individually. The financial impact of the labor deals on the companies is unclear, as they had expressed concerns about the union’s demands affecting their competitiveness and long-term viability. Deutsche Bank estimated that the labor deals would increase costs by $6.2 billion at Ford, $7.2 billion at GM, and $6.4 billion at Stellantis over the term of the agreements.
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