HAMTRAMCK, Mich. – Thursday night, workers at UAW Local 22 voted by a big margin to ratify the tentative deal the United Auto Workers reached with General Motors.
Workers were walking the picket line at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant when news came in their local was on board.
"I thought it was a good deal. I thought it was fair," Gregory Frost said. Seventy-seven percent of his local voted yes on the deal.
Workers have been walking the picket line for 39 days, the longest strike at GM since the 1970s.
"I'm surprised for as long as we've been out here, that we didn't make better gains for the new hires. I'm just disappointed for them," James Foulks said.
Tiered pay and the length of time for temporary workers to become full time have been sticking points. The $11,000 signing bonus, raises and no change to GM's luxury health care packages were all big wins for the union.
A simple majority is all that's needed to ratify the contract, voting is to be completed by Friday.