Union members at Ford, Stellantis and General Motors have approved a new four-and-a-half-year contract that ensures an 11% wage increase after a six-week strike in September and October.
The United Auto Workers said about 67% of Ford workers represented by the UAW voted in favor of the contract, which runs through April 30, 2028.
Voting officially ends Friday, but with about 57,000 union workers at Ford, the contract appears headed for easy ratification.
The contracts were negotiated after UAW members went on strike from September 15 to the end of October.
Union members will receive a total of 25% pay increases during the deal. The new contracts also restore cost-of-living adjustments, let workers reach top wages in three years instead of eight and protect their right to strike during plant closings.
Both the UAW and the carmakers described the deals as “record” contracts based on those wage increases. The union also said members are getting some benefits back that they agreed to give up after the Great Recession to help automakers survive.
GM workers approved the contract, but they did so by a much smaller margin than Ford workers, with about 55% of workers voting yes.
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While UAW President Shawn Fenn has called the contacts a victory for workers, he has also said they are part of a larger plan to achieve greater benefits in the long term.
According to the UAW’s ratification vote tracker, Stellantis workers were on pace to approve the deal by the same margin as Ford workers. Nearly 66% of votes were cast in favor of accepting the contract, with 17,391 votes as of Thursday evening ET.
While the general terms of the contracts remain the same, employees of Detroit’s Big Three automakers are independently voting to accept or reject them.
Source: www.nbcnews.com
