Skilled Trade Members Hold Up Ratification Of UAW-GM Tentative Agreement

The settlement at Ford comes after the UAW reached a deal with GM that was richer than the contract it negotiated with smaller and less profitable Fiat Chrysler Automobiles last month.

Workers at GM are still voting on whether to ratify their own contract proposal, which covers about 52,700 union members.

Local workers voted on the deal Thursday and the ballots were officially counted Friday morning.

UAW officials are touting the Ford deal as one of its richest in the company’s history but declined to release specifics ahead of a private briefing with local union leaders in Detroit on Monday.

Under UAW bylaws, union leaders are obligated to hear the skilled trades’ complaints in light of their overwhelming rejection. Until then UAW President Dennis Williams can’t give GM formal notice that the contract is ratified.

“General Motors is pleased that a majority of UAW-represented employees recognize the benefits of the 2015 UAW-GM national agreement and voted in favor of it”, the automaker said in a statement late Friday.

Nationally, the GM agreement with the UAW is expected to be ratified.

The contract approved by Fiat Chrysler workers established a pattern of pay increases for hourly workers, starting at $17 an hour and progressing to almost $30 an hour over eight years. The contract passed by an 1,100-vote margin.

Veteran workers get two raises of 3 percent and two lump-sum payments during the proposed contract’s four-year term. GM will pay out that incentive to as many as 4,000 UAW production workers. The UAW labor bill equaled less than 5 percent of GM’s revenue in North America a year ago, down from almost 16 percent in 1999 and 11 percent in 2007, CAR’s research shows. Implemented in the wake of the industry crisis of 2008-2009, the loathed two-tier structure has created tension between factory workers.

He said he’s hoping the deal would secure products and jobs in the United States.

GM’s proposed contract also offers $60,000 for up to 4,000 eligible employees who agree to retire next spring.