The union's Stand Up Strike lasted 44 days and has secured "record" contracts with all three Detroit automakers.
On the 44th day of the Stand Up Strike, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union announced it reached tentative agreements with Stellantis and GM.
The union now has tentative deals with all three automakers; it announced a deal with Ford on Oct. 25. All three contracts must be voted on by UAW membership before they are official.
Like Ford workers, Stellantis and GM workers will also return to work while the agreements go through the ratification process.
The details of GM’s deal have not yet been released, as the negotiations stretched into the early morning hours of Oct. 30, but UAW leadership said the deal with Stellantis, reached Oct. 28, is also a record contract.
“Once again, we have achieved what just weeks ago we were told was impossible,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “At Stellantis in particular, we have not only secured a record contract, we have begun to turn the tide in the war on the American working class.
“Going into these negotiations, the company wanted to cut 5,000 jobs across Stellantis. Our Stand Up Strike changed that equation,” Fain continued. “Not only did we not lose those 5,000 jobs, we turned it all the way around. By the end of this agreement, Stellantis will be adding 5,000 jobs. We truly are saving the American dream.”
UAW Vice President Rich Boyer said the strike saved Stellantis’ Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois. The automaker idled the plant earlier this year, laying off 1,200 workers. Boyer said the deal reached with Stellantis will not only reopen the plant and restore those jobs, but will also add another 1,000 jobs at a new battery plant in the same city.
Like the Ford agreement, the UAW said, the Stellantis deal includes gains valued at more than four times the gains from the union’s 2019 contract. It provides more in base wage increases than Stellantis workers have received in the past 22 years.
The agreement grants 25% in base wage increases through April 2028, and will cumulatively raise the top wage by 33% compounded with estimated COLA to more than $42 an hour. The starting wage will increase by 67% compounded with estimated COLA, to more than $30 an hour. The lowest-paid workers at Stellantis, temporary workers, will see a raise of more than 165% over the life of the agreement. Some workers at Mopar will receive an immediate 76% increase upon ratification.
The agreement reinstates major benefits lost during the Great Recession, including COLA and a three-year wage progression, as well as eliminating divisive wage tiers in the union. It improves retirement for current retirees, those workers with pensions, and those who have 401(k) plans.
Like the Ford agreement, the Stellantis deal includes a right to strike over plant closures. It also includes a right to strike over product and investment commitments, a historic first for the union.
Abby Andrews