And then there were none. Less than 24 hours after the UAW went on strike at General Motors plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee the two sides got a deal done. Details are sparse, but it’s safe to assume there’s a 25% raise in the deal.
The UAW used stand-up strikes to hit the automakers where they hurt, with the last one Sunday at GM’s Spring Hill, Tennessee plant apparently pushing the company get the deal done.
General Motors and the UAW have completed the final deal between the union and Detroit Three automakers, less than a day after another “stand-up strike” commenced at GM’s plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee.
GM declined to comment when this story was published, but Headlight.News confirmed with a background source, what other media are now reporting: the deal is done. The terms of the tentative agreement haven’t been revealed yet, but one component seems certain: a 25% wage increase over the life of agreement.
About 7,800 UAW members are employed at the Sterling Heights plant.
With deals completed at Ford and Stellantis — which happened Saturday — UAW President Shawn Fain looked to ratchet up the pressure on GM even more, calling for another stand-up strike Sunday. He asked the 4,000 workers at GM’s Spring Hill, Tennessee to join thousands of other picketers in several states.
The plant produces the all-electric Cadillac Lyriq and Cadillac XT5 & XT6, and GMC Acadia utility vehicles with substantial profit margins.
It wasn’t long after that a deal was struck.
Charging into battery plants
While the deals are “pattern” deals, each containing similar elements to the other, stalled talks between GM and the UAW reportedly began picking up momentum once GM agreed to lump in the company’s Ultium EV operations into the master agreement.
Getting GM to include its Ultium operations in the master agreement was a goal stated early on by Fain, well before the formal contract talks began in July. He said the company was at least willing to consider the idea, but GM essentially offered no comment about the possibility.
UAW workers now need to vote on the deals negotiated by Fain and the senior officers.
The union did go into the Lordstown Ultium facility and organize it, but it was on its own separate contract. Now that is no longer, and matches — at least on the surface — the deal with Ford where it agreed to lump its battery operations into the master deal as well.
Marick Masters, professor of business in Department of Management at Wayne State University, in a previous discussion with Headlight.News raised questions about the possibility of the automakers negotiating UAW representation for the transplants because they operate as separate companies. Traditionally in such instances unions have had to start all over by organization workers at those new operations.
Other components
In addition to the same 25% increase over the 4.5-year life of the deal, GM reportedly agreed to match the cost-of-living allowance and profit-sharing formula as Ford and Stellantis.
However, hang ups on issues including pensions and the amount of time needed for temporary workers to become permanent employees, forced Fain to enact the final stand-up strike in Tennessee. Not long after, these details got resolved.
The GM workers will return to work after an official announcement of the agreement, Reuters reported.
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