A group of union-represented autoworkers in Flint voted against General Motors’ tentative contract agreement with the United Auto Workers, causing some concern as the deal moves through the approval process.
UAW members across the U.S. have been voting at their local offices to either approve or reject the union’s tentative agreements reached with the Big Three automakers after months of negotiations, and a major weekslong strike. So far, the majority of autoworkers have been in favor of the tentative deals that both union and company leaders call historic.
But one UAW local in Flint has not voted to approve the deal.
This week, some workers at UAW Local 659 said “no” to the deal with GM. Among the autoworkers on the production side of Flint Engine, 52% voted against the deal while 48% voted to approve it. However, other worker units under Local 659 overwhelmingly voted in favor of the deal.
While many workers have spoken out in favor of the offers under the new deals -- which include significant wage increases and shortening the time to reach a top wage, among other things -- there has been some criticism online from UAW members, and not just about the GM deal.
UAW Vice President Rich Boyer addresses his membership Tuesday, Nov. 7, saying that he has heard some of the grumblings over the deal with Stellantis.
“Everybody thinks we took the first offer on the table. Just to be clear with you, there were 11 offers and 11 counteroffers -- in total 22 passes across the table -- before we got to this point,” Boyer said.
Boyer went on to say that the bargaining team is pleased with the landmark offer it secured at Stellantis. But, still, some members are unhappy that the UAW couldn’t get the Big Three automakers to budge on a return to pensions or a shorter work week.
---> UAW leaders share highlights of tentative deal with General Motors
Before the tentative deals were brought to the UAW membership to vote on, the union’s national councils for each of the Big Three companies reviewed the agreements and approved them. Now, the fate of the agreements rests in the hands of the autoworkers they represent.
UAW President Shawn Fain has maintained that its the workers’ right to choose whether to approve the deals, though he has said he feels the union has achieved the record deals it sought. The GM workers in Flint appear to be the first in the UAW, or possibly among the few, to have a majority vote against one of the new agreements.
The tentative deal made with GM was the last among the Big Three, and officially brought this year’s auto strike to an end as the three deals move through the ratification process. If the majority of UAW workers approve the four-and-a-half-year deals, they will take effect. If the majority of union members reject the deals, it’ll be back to the drawing board for negotiators.
More than 40,000 of the UAW’s 146,000 autoworkers at facilities in over 20 states had joined the strike before it ended. UAW workers were asked to return to work almost immediately after the tentative agreements were reached, rather than waiting for the ratification of the deals. If the deals are rejected, it’s likely the strike could resume -- though it’s not entirely clear how that would pan out.
Fain was set to address union members on Wednesday. He was also set to meet with President Joe Biden on Thursday at the Stellantis Belvidere plant in Illinois, which the UAW managed to reopen under the tentative contract agreement.
Watch Mara’s report on this below.