Workers at an Illinois factory overwhelmingly approved the deal in voting that ended Wednesday night.
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Fiat Chrysler will end production of the Dodge Viper in 2017. the company, along with United Automobile Workers (UAW), has come with a new contract proposal for the next four years.
The new contract includes the first pay increase in nine years for long-serving employees, as well a definitive path to higher wages for newer workers who started at much lower pay since the recession.
These results, combined with results from local halls in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana reported by the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News showed widespread and overwhelming support for the new Fiat Chrysler contract.
Those demands are nearly certain to make Ford and GM’s contracts more expensive than the FCA deal, which was ratified by a 3-to-1 ratio announced Thursday.
Fiat Chrysler said in a statement that it was pleased that the contract passed. It also has slightly lower labor costs than Ford (by about $2 an hour), although both paid significantly more than FCA under the old agreements.
The Director of the Labor and Industry group at the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research – Kristin Dziczek – tells WDET’s Quinn Klinefelter the new agreement with Fiat Chrysler does not cost the automaker more money.
Fiat Chrysler stock has been consolidating for more than five months, forming a 30% deep trough during that period, and it’s set up a 17.18 buy point. GM and Ford each have about 52,700 UAW-represented workers. The previous contract promised $3,000 bonuses for all workers.
Workers at plants across the country voted yesterday and today.
“I don’t think you need to hire a PR firm if you negotiate a good contract”, said Alex Wassell, a welder fix worker at Warren Stamping near Detroit.
The four-year pact will allow workers hired since 2007 to earn up to $28 an hour with the automaker. Among other top automakers, luxury electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA) rose 1%, and Volkswagen (OTCPK:VLKAY) was up 0.5%.
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The second deal, now ratified, will raise Tier 2 workers to Tier 1 wages-though not comparable benefits-by the time they reach eight years’ seniority.
