DETROIT – Unionized autoworkers have narrowly voted in favor of a tentative deal with General Motors, according to tallies reported Thursday, officially ending a tense negotiation season between the United Auto Workers and the automaker.
About 55% of UAW members who work for GM voted to ratify the deal, while about 45% of members voted against it, final vote tallies showed Thursday, Nov. 16. Earlier this week, before all votes were counted and reported, it appeared possible that the membership might not approve the new contract agreement, despite union leadership saying it’s the best possible deal they could’ve gotten this year.
Last week, a group of UAW-represented GM workers in Flint voted against the tentative contract agreement, triggering some concern as the deal moved through the ratification process. Though UAW workers appeared to be mostly in favor of the union’s tentative deals reached with GM and the remaining Big Three automakers -- Ford Motor Company and Stellantis -- some members and former members criticized the deals. Some were particularly upset over the union’s inability to get the carmakers to budge on a return to pensions and a shorter work week.
After months of bargaining and a weekslong strike that included more than 40,000 of the UAW’s 146,000 autoworkers, union leaders said they were pleased with the deals they were able to reach with the carmakers. Amid concern that the membership didn’t feel similarly about what UAW leaders say are “record” and historic union contracts, union leaders reiterated last week that negotiators won the best contract agreement possible.
“We won things no one thought possible,” UAW President Shawn Fain said when he announced the tentative agreement.
The tentative agreements, now accepted at GM, are similar among each of the Big Three, though each contract contains a few different components. The contracts include significant wage increases and shortening the time to reach a top wage, among other benefits. Part of GM’s deal includes an agreement to include its electric vehicle battery operations under the national UAW contract, essentially unionizing those facilities in a major win for autoworkers.
---> UAW leaders share highlights of tentative deal with General Motors
The union’s national councils for GM, Ford and Stellantis each reviewed and approved the contract agreements before passing them along to the membership for a deciding vote. The tentative deals are still being voted on by Ford and Stellantis autoworkers -- and so far, based on incomplete Thursday tallies, the majority of UAW members at both companies appear in favor of the deals.
The strikes at the Big Three were suspended when the tentative contract agreements were reached at the end of October. Nearly 30% of the union’s autoworkers participated in the Big Three auto strike at facilities in over 20 states.