Agreements in principle negotiated with three major American automakers, Ford, Stellantis and General Motors, have been ratified by their unionized employees at the UAW, leading to an unprecedented strike lasting more than six weeks, a representative told AFP on Saturday. Union source.
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“All three are ratified,” this source said simply of these agreements, which each manufacturer had reached with the United Auto Workers union.
According to data posted Thursday on the union’s website, about 55% of hourly employees at General Motors have given the green light to the contract, which must last for the next four years.
Unionized workers at Ford and Stellantis have now done the same, with 67.4% of the vote in the first and 66.8% in the second, according to data posted on the union’s website Saturday.
Stellantis, owner of the Jeep and Chrysler brands in particular, confirmed this ratification in a press release.
“With negotiations now officially behind us, we will focus all of our attention on executing our +Dare Forward 2030+ strategic plan and delivering the high-quality products and technologies our customers want and expect. », commented Mark Stewart, operations manager of the group, quoted in the press release.
The union and Ford did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
Shawn Fain, the UAW president elected in the spring, launched a movement unprecedented in the organization’s ninety-year history by simultaneously launching a strike among Detroit’s Big Three.
When the strike began on September 15, 12,700 union members were employed in three factories. As the weeks went by, the strikes grew to mobilize more locations and more than 45,000 of the 146,000 UAW members who worked for the three manufacturers.
All striking employees returned to work immediately after the agreement in principle was announced, without waiting for ratification as usual.
In particular, the union asked for a 40% salary increase over four years, equivalent to what faction leaders receive for four years.
“Record profits mean record contracts,” Mr. Fain repeated again and again.
The agreements reached include, among other things, an increase in the basic salary of 25% over the four years of the collective agreement, measures to adjust the cost of living, social benefits and improvements for pensioners.
They also contain group-specific features, for example at Stellantis with regard to employment or the abandonment of the plan to close the Belvidere (Illinois) plant at General Motors.