Whether General Motors CEO Mary Barra will shake hands with UAW President Shawn Fain when union workers ratify their tentative collective bargaining agreement remains in question, the Detroit Free Press learned Saturday.
Fain declined to shake hands with Barra and the other CEOs of the Detroit Three automakers at the start of talks over the summer, and now Barra has suggested it might be best to conclude without a ceremonial handshake, according to one of about two A dozen people in the room in October , 30, when the tentative deal was struck.
It was around 4 a.m. and everyone was exhausted, said the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly. GM had about eight top negotiators and others in the room, while the UAW had more than a dozen, the source said.
As the leaders signed the agreement at the Solidarity House on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit, Fain read through the standard language, terms and all the key points, the source said. That final review took about 20 minutes and everyone in the room was ready to get it done, the source told the Free Press.
Fain continued to talk about the protocol and next steps, as well as the general membership ratification vote and the post-ratification handshake ceremony. The room was quiet and tense.
The deal with GM came less than 48 hours after the union struck at the automaker’s critical Spring Hill assembly plant in Tennessee.
When Fain pointed out the upcoming handshake ceremony, Barra intervened and said something to the effect of, “Maybe we won’t do that,” the source in the room told the Free Press.
Fain broke the silence and burst out laughing as everyone else in the room looked on uneasily, the source told the Free Press.
Fain replied, “Sounds like a plan to me.”
The source in the room who spoke to the Free Press said the incident was so unusual that they wrote it down at the time.
A second source with knowledge of the exchange told the Free Press on Saturday that she, too, remembered Fain suggesting that he and Barra “get together for a handshake” after ratification. And Barra said something to the effect of, “They didn’t do the traditional handshake at the beginning, and I don’t think we need one at the end.” … It’s a practice we don’t need to continue.”
Then Barra stood up, looked at each member of the UAW bargaining committee one by one and said, “See you back at the plant.”
The first source told the Free Press: “She was clearly not happy.”
On Saturday, GM declined to comment on the interaction between the two parties, which reached a tentative agreement.
The UAW also declined to comment.
Repetition: UAW President Fain announces details of tentative GM deal
Barra expressed anger during negotiations, accusing Fain of engaging in “theatrics” instead of negotiating a contract.
Last month, the company told investors that the targeted strike was costing GM $200 million a week in lost production revenue. In 2019, the UAW strike against GM lasted 40 days.
Ford Motor Co. declined to comment and Stellantis could not be reached Saturday to comment on whether they plan to proceed with the traditional handshake ceremony after ratification. A UAW source said the two automakers had not indicated other plans. Bill Ford, Ford’s chief executive, said on October 16 during the strike that the UAW negotiations could be contentious, but that the UAW and the automakers would succeed or fail together and things would return to normal at Ford.
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Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or [email protected]. Follow her on X, the website formerly known as Twitter @phoebesaid.