One of the largest unionized General Motors plants, Flint Assembly, has voted in favor of the proposed GM UAW contract.
According to UAW Local 598’s Facebook page, which represents the 4,800 hourly workers at the plant, 60.9% of Flint Assembly employees voted in favor of the contract proposal, while 39.1% were against it. The Flint UAW branch is the second largest in the United States, so the voting results bode well for GM which wants to see the contract approved so it can get its production lines back up and running. ABC affiliate WXYZ Detroit says the Flint result is a strong sign the contract will be passed.
Voting results continue to be a mixed bag, however. UAW Local 2164, which represents workers at Bowling Green Assembly in Kentucky, shot down the proposal, with 56 percent of workers voting against it and 44% voting in favor. The Bowling Green plant, which builds the Chevrolet Corvette, only employs around 900 workers, though, so it is much smaller than Flint.
According to The Detroit News‘ UAW vote tracker, the ‘Yes’ vote is currently leading the way over the ‘No’ vote by roughly 60%. Many plants still have to turn in their ballots, though, with GM only receiving results from eight plants so far, with another 27 outstanding. All ballots must be turned in by Friday, October 25th at 4 p.m. ET.
The Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant in Metro Detroit is expected to submit its voting results today. The new contract will allocate production of GM’s upcoming BT1-based electric vehicles to the plant, which will allegedly include an electric GMC pickup, electric Hummer SUV and electric Cadillac crossover. This would result in about 2,225 jobs being retained at the plant, which could produce as many as 80,000 vehicles per year by 2024.
If ratified, the contract will see UAW workers will receive a 3-percent wage increase and 4-percent lump-sum payment on alternating years of the four-year contract, along with the same healthcare plan and an $11,000 ratification bonus for full time workers. Temporary workers will receive a $4,500 ratification bonus.
Lordstown Assembly in 2012
The UAW had previously said it would not accept a contract that didn’t include new products for both Detroit-Hamtramck and Lordstown Assembly, but the Lordstown facility will remain closed under the proposal—which is likely a major contributing factor in UAW members’ indecision.
Subscribe to GM Authority for the results of the UAW vote Friday, along with more GM UAW news and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comments
Keep in mind that only those who are at the top of the pay scale get those raises…not EVERYONE. The vast majority got NOTHING.
The vast majority got nothing? Give your head a shake, given the nature of the strike amidst the global market conditions you’re DAMN lucky that GM didn’t decide to produce abroad and save an unbelievable amount of money – that’s the reality in a global economy. Your union members ALREADY get far more compensation and benefits than the average American employee, for, let’s face it – very SIMPLE labor. If it were up to the bean counters they would have said you all should have counted your lucky stars long ago and kept quiet because to remain competitive you can’t share every last bit of profit your company makes with the grunts and then have them demand to still be paid when times are bad. Should the union keep demanding a higher stake in the company you can bet they’ll smash the glass on the exit strategy case and not look back. Sure, american jobs are important, but don’t kid yourself – profit must be number one.
Unions just don’t seem to get it – you CAN be replaced and your bargaining power in this global economy where your “skilled” labor can be exported is ever diminishing, so I say keep demanding more and you’ll all see just how correct that is.
Can the Bowling Green Plant hold out or do they have to go with the majority of all the votes?
can anyone substantiate that the Bowling Green UAW members destroyed three new 2020 Corvettes at the plant?
I had a customer that a couple weeks ago toured the Corvette Museum and was told to drive to the side of the plant and take a look at 2-3 Corvettes the UAW destroyed during the strike. (windows, tail lights, headlights knocked out, tires slashed. Totally destroyed)
This speaks to the status of the union. A bunch of of over paid bullies.
This is the problem with union shops, they protect the highly skilled and responsible people along with the trash that destroys company assets and think it is fun to do. I’m sure there is a security camera video of it.
I would just down the Bowling Green plant. The new Vette is crappy anyway. No loss….
I see alot of people on this site hate unions, they must hate America too since its a union as well.
Union’s are good try working without one there your protection against the company and they fight for your health benefits and pension.