General Motors reaches tentative deal to end strike with UAW: Sources

(NEW YORK) — General Motors has reached a tentative deal with United Auto Workers to end their strike, according to two sources familiar with the talks.

GM joins Stellantis and Ford, which reached deals in the last week.

The tentative agreements, which must be ratified by union members at each of the respective carmakers, could end a strike against the Big 3 that began last month. The at-times contentious work stoppage thrust UAW President Shawn Fain into the national spotlight and drew support from President Joe Biden.

Tentative agreements struck with Ford and Stellantis called for a roughly 25% raise over four years as well as significant improvements on pensions and the right to strike plant closures. The details of the deal with GM have yet to be disclosed.

The automakers had expressed reluctance to meet some demands from the union that they considered ambitious, saying such moves would take investment away from a costly shift to electric vehicles. The companies have also cited the need to compete with non-union competitors.

GM, Ford and Stellantis faced pressure to reach a deal as financial losses piled up amid the strike. As of last week, the strike had cost the auto industry an estimated $9.3 billion, according to a report released on Monday by Michigan-based research firm Anderson Economic Group.

In a live-streamed address on Facebook on Sunday, Fain said the recent contract agreements would fuel the UAW’s wider ambitions to organize non-union carmakers, including Tesla, Honda and Toyota.

“One of our biggest goals coming out of this historic contract victory is to organize like we’ve never organized before,” Fain said. “When we return to the bargaining table in 2028, it won’t just be with the Big 3. It will be the Big 5 or Big 6.”

The union, which represents nearly 150,000 autoworkers, launched a work stoppage against the Big 3 carmakers more than a month ago, deploying a “stand-up” strike method to target specific plants and add to the list if a deal wasn’t reached. At the peak of the strike, 46,000 employees refused to work.

The UAW sought ambitious demands such as a 40% pay increase combined over the four-year duration of a new contract, as well as a 32-hour workweek at 40-hour pay. Tentative agreements with Ford and Stellantis appeared to fall short of those terms but delivered significant raises and job security protections.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.