As the UAW continues its historic strike against the Big Three Detroit automakers (GM, Ford, and Stellantis), reports indicate that the labor union is making progress towards reaching new agreements in negotiations. However, there remain major sticking points in hashing out the new contracts, with battery plant workers and pensions highlighted as two major hurdles. The UAW launched its initial strikes against all three automakers in September, marking the first time the union has called for simultaneous walkouts at each of the Big Three automakers.
According to a recent report from Reuters, one of the biggest issues in negotiations is covering present and future battery plants under the national UAW agreement. Just last week, GM agreed to include workers at Ultium Cells battery plants under the national UAW agreement, a major milestone that the UAW cites as the reason against expansion of the strike to include the GM Arlington plant in Texas, considered the most-profitable auto plant in the world. The details of how that agreement will work remain uncertain, given Ultium Cells facilities are operated under a joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solution. The UAW would need to organize workers at the facilities, and currently, neither Ford nor Stellantis have publicly agreed to match GM’s offer.
Another major hurdle in reaching a new agreement is finding a middle ground on pensions. The UAW is seeking to restore the retirement security provided prior to 2007, with defined benefit pension plans. The UAW and automakers have reportedly explored annuities as one possible approach to providing income security, with an investment option through the company-sponsored 401(k) savings plans.
Despite these lingering issues, progress is reportedly being made, with the Big Three automakers all agreeing to a base wage increase of 20 percent to 23 percent over the life of the four-year contract.
One estimate places the cost of the UAW strike to the U.S. economy at $5.5 billion so far. It’s estimated that 25,300 UAW members are currently striking, with the union membership including 146,000 workers across all three makes.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more 2023 GM UAW news, UAW news, GM business news, GM production news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comments
Now that Ford’s Kentucky plant is on strike, I have absolutely no doubt that GM’s Arlington plant is next on the UAW list.
100% certain of that. They barely avoided the full-size truck plant in Oshawa and the engine plant in St. Catherine’s Ontario (Unifor) being shut down for weeks by reaching a tentative agreement.
The unions and their members are so greedy. I wish the auto makers would just hire regular workers. The robots do most of the critical work.
The critics are sooo STOOOPID and don’t know what they are talking about. Just like scared sheep they run and hide, whine and cry , then look up at their corporate billionaire masses for crumbs.
UAW GMCCA Local #6645 , this message sponsored by me so ENJOY!!!
Lock out all of the UAW workers and force the UAW to use the strike fund to support them…when the strike fund is down to its last million, I am sure the UAW will come to its senses and not turn down 20% raises. It won’t hurt Fain at all…he is still making 100% of his salary.
What plant you work in?
Pensions are dead, Kaput! Over with, so get on with life. You have your 401K and very nice bonuses. Also Roth IRAs are available for your bonuses. Use your money as you see fit. Buy a annuity when you’re young. 90% of the population don’t have a Pensions. My brother has a Pension from GE but he was lucky to have started back in the 70s. GE dropped the Pensions years ago too. You think you can work for 20-30 years and then your old employer pays you for another 30-40 years??? Hahaha! What kind of drugs are you on? Americans that don’t have a Pension should boycott the big three auto mfgs for 2-3 years until they abolish the unions and their idiocy! If they go out of business, no big deal, no more bailouts!
Pensions are not dead. In the Union Construction Trades all of the Collective Bargaining Agreements nationwide have defined benefit pensions and many also have defined contribution pension in addition to their regular defined benefit pensions. The work in the trades is hard and hard on your body so workers have bargained and earned the right to retire at an age in which they can still enjoy some good years and retire with dignity and not have to work until they fall over dead.
Many on here seem to have negative comments about the UAW workers. Although I doubt anyone will admit it, I suspect a lot of it is jealousy because they don’t have a pension plan or they don’t have a Union helping them bargain with the strength of many instead of individually having to take what the boss decides to give them. Maybe they should keep their noses out of it and let the UAW and it’s members and the manufacturers work out their respective collective bargaining issues.
I’ve been seeing lots of hate and jealousy in the comments and from grown ass men. I’ve been commenting maybe you should find a job that will fight for you to have better wages, Healthcare, retirement, safe working environment etc… The problem is people are really shallow as far as researching and using ones own brain, they’d rather repeat what they’ve seen and heard and are loudly wrong.
These workers didn’t receive raises for 10 years, but nobody is saying anything about that.
Pensions are still around you need to research, and the jealousy and hate you have…, are you really like that? Americans who don’t have a pension should boycott, what kind of drugs are you on.
Ya,unionize battery plant workers while the regular plant workers jobs will be eliminated and the complete working numbers will be downsized due to the EV production. What a stupid combination.
Bottom line – whatever the 2 sides “SETTLE” on, the vehicles cost will go up by at least that amount. The consumer always takes it up the arse just like what inflation is doing to everybody because of government spend thrifts and our insane deficit.
The prices of vehicles have been increasing astronomically without the Union members getting big raises so evidently it doesn’t matter. Non-union vehicles are just as expensive as well.
Right,that’s because the prices reflect the pay they are already getting, so a bigger contract will mean another price increase
You couldn’t be more wrong haha, confidently wrong at that.
So you don’t think that the CEO or the vast number of management and mid-management white collar workers that produce nothing making much much more than the UAW members have any affect on the high vehicle prices?
Yes,they are also included.
Finally somebody not repeating what they’ve heard others say, the union doesn’t set prices on cars, as you stated you can go shop cars right now and the cars are already expensive and have been for years, that has nothing to do with the salary of the workers.
Cars are expensive and they get no money now, has nothing to do with the pay they receive, foreign cars cost the same or more if you actually go look instead of repeating what you’ve heard or read.
Some of these people that are making all these negative comments about Unions and Union workers have no idea or are just misinformed. Obviously they don’t know the hours or the environments that we work in. That’s why we belong to a union to bargain for higher wages and better benefits. They are real quick to forget about corporate/executive greed and try to blame it on the average worker. They are quick to forget or have selective memory that we gave up concessions and didn’t receive pay raises for a number of years to save the companies going through bankruptcy. We are not the enemy, but it makes me think there’s some jealously. Every Union member: autoworker, professional athlete, actor, truck driver, teacher etc….. has earned the right to bargain, if you don’t like it organize your work place then maybe you can earn a better wage with better benefits instead of complaining about what Union workers are getting or trying to get. United we bargain, divided we beg. They will constantly give you crumbs if you settle for crumbs.
Very well put Nate!