A majority of the 52,600 union workers at General Motors have voted in favor of a new four-year contract, but that wasn’t enough to finalize a deal.
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“This agreement is significant for our members in that it creates a clear path for economic advancement for active members and rewards veteran employees for their sacrifices in recent years”, union Vice President Jimmy Settles said in an emailed statement.
GM also committed to spend about $8 billion across 12 USA facilities over the life of the contract, the union said.
Workers at a number of components plants and four assembly plants approved the contract, but workers at two other assembly plants and one transmission plant have rejected it, leaving open the possibility that the UAW could see an offer rejected for a second time in this round of negotiations with Detroit’s auto makers. UAW President Dennis Williams has called the GM and Fiat Chrysler contracts “very rich agreements”. A few other General Motors factories are expected to vote on the deal by the weekend. That would consist of an $8,500 ratification bonus and a pull-ahead amount of $1,500 in a 2016 profit-sharing bonus so the workers can have the extra money before the holidays, the sources said.
Voting had been fairly close earlier in the week.
Under UAW bylaws, union leaders are obligated to hear the skilled trades’ complaints in light of their overwhelming rejection.
Workers assemble a truck at Ford’s plant in Avon Lake, Ohio. The…
Earlier Friday, workers at an engine plant in Tonawanda, N.Y., gave the agreement a narrow 51 percent approval, but Local 909 at a transmission plant in Warren, Mich., rejected it by a 54 percent to 46 percent margin.
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GM recently reported a record operating profit in the third quarter, despite continued costs from its recall problems. That is more than double the commitment made by GM in its agreement with the UAW. (F – Get Report) are up 0.23% to $14.55 in after-hours trading on Friday after the company came to a tentative labor agreement with the United Auto Workers union. Before the UAW can move onto Ford Motor Co., though, it must finalize a deal with GM.
