The historic car strike in the United States is entering its final phase. After the agreement in principle that Ford reached on Wednesday with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, this Saturday it was Stellantis who reached an agreement that also still has to be ratified by the workers. The deal could end just over six weeks of strike by about 14,000 workers at Stellantis assembly plants in Michigan and Ohio and parts distribution centers across the country.
The dual agreement increases pressure on General Motors, which has increased its offer and also sought closer positions with the union. It is possible that the agreement will also be closed this weekend. Union President Shawn Fain is expected to announce the agreements this Sunday and recommend that workers support them.
Stellantis achieved the UAW’s 25% minimum wage increase with Ford within four years. General Motors also offered the same increase. The new Stellantis collective agreement also includes compensation for the increased cost of living, a faster transition between the two salary levels, restrictions on temporary employment and the recognition of the right to strike against factory closures. It is the shortcomings of these secondary aspects that have prevented General Motors from entering into its own agreement for now.
According to Bloomberg, the Stellantis deal includes job security concessions, such as keeping an engine plant open in Trenton, Michigan, and making a vehicle at the idle Illinois assembly plant.
In the case of Ford, of which more details are known, the increase in hourly pay until April 2028 is 25%, with some cost of living adjustments even more than 30%, even more than $40 per hour. Starting pay increases 68% to over $28 per hour. According to the UAW, Ford’s lowest-paid workers will receive a raise of more than 150% over the life of the agreement, and some will receive an immediate 85% raise after ratification.
“We have been saying for months that record profits mean record contracts. And the UAW family and our stand-up strike have brought success. “What started at midnight on September 15th at three plants has grown into a national movement,” Fain said in a video posted on social media following the agreement with Ford. “We have achieved things that no one thought possible,” he added.
The strike began Sept. 15 with the closure of one plant in each of Detroit’s Big Three, which employs 14,000 union workers. This includes Jeep from Stellantis in Toledo (Ohio), where the Gladiator and Wrangler models come from.
On Friday, September 29, the union leader called on 7,000 more UAW workers to strike at a General Motors plant and another Ford plant in Chicago, Illinois, where the Explorer and Lincoln Aviator models are manufactured. The following week, Fain recalled nearly 6,000 more workers from 28 Stellantis and GM distribution centers in 20 states.
On October 6, Fain announced important progress in negotiations and refrained from extending the strike, but a few days later he surprised everyone with a strike at Ford’s most profitable plant and earlier this week at another Stellantis plant. The 6,800 workers of the largest factory in the United States joined the call and unexpectedly shut down the assembly plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan, which produces the RAM 1500 truck, a very profitable bestseller for the company.
During the strike, workers received a historic visit from United States President Joe Biden on a picket line at a General Motors plant in Belville, Michigan. “Stay firm,” he urged them with the megaphone in his hand next to the union leader.
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