General Motors’ United Auto Workers on Thursday approved a contract that would pave the way for a new era of record wage increases and the elimination of titles that pay new staff less than those with experience.
A tool that tracks union votes showed that more than 54% of the 35,000 UAWs hired through General Motors who voted voted in favor of the contract, with the final votes being counted Thursday.
A spokesperson for General Motors said the company declined to comment until the union formally announced the results of the ratification process.
Workers at five of the largest factories voted against the deal in recent days, because some employees at those factories were disappointed that it did not guarantee more concessions for retirees, such as the reinstatement of pensions.
It does force the automakers to increase their contributions to 401(k) retirement accounts.
These agreements mark the biggest pay gains the union has made in decades, adding a 25% increase in base pay over four and a half years.
Marc Robinson, a former economist and strategist at General Motors, said he was surprised that so many UAW members voted against “such a rich contract,” but attributed it to the union’s newly elected president, Shawn Fain, who publicly made some very ambitious demands. The contract. fight and set maximum criteria on what staff can earn.
“(The union) was treated better than the previous one because corporations weren’t used to Fain’s strategy, but that came with the threat of raising members’ expectations,” Robinson said. “The close vote reflects extremely high expectations. “
The contract comes after a long era in which workers’ wages have failed to keep pace with inflation and after the union gave up some of its benefits during the Great Recession as automakers struggled to survive. Cost-of-living wage changes to compensate for inflation.
It also eliminated salary levels that placed newcomers on a lower pay scale.
Another explanation for the complicated vote among GM staff is that it’s conceivable that local UAW leaders didn’t really sell the deal to union members, Robinson said.
That split may simply reflect the fact that “there’s no unanimity within the UAW,” he said, noting that Fain narrowly ousted his predecessor in the runoff election seven months ago.
The deal also appears to offer UAW workers some protection in the industry’s conversion to electric vehicles. Workers have worried that wages and job security will be lower in the industry’s new battery and EV factories.
GM’s agreement calls for the integration of some of those new factories into the union’s main contracts with automakers.