Dive Brief:
- Local 1112 of the United Auto Workers has reached a tentative agreement with Ultium Cells, the labor union announced Monday. The battery manufacturer, a joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution, employs 1,700 people in high-tech jobs at its Lordstown, Ohio facility.
- Through the agreement, Local 1112 has raised the top production wage from $20 after seven years on the job to $35 after one year on the job, according to a statement from UAW President Shawn Fain. Starting wages will grow from $16.50 to $26.91, and most members will see a $3.59 increase in hourly wages immediately upon the ratified deal, Fain added.
- The local members at Ultium Cells will hold a ratification vote in the coming days after reviewing the agreement, the press release said.
Dive Insight:
The latest labor agreement follows an August 2023 deal between Ultium Cells and the UAW that increased wages by roughly 25%, or by $3 to $4 per hour, for the roughly 1,100 workers represented by the union. The workers unionized in October 2022 to address “serious health and safety concerns and poverty wages” at the Lordstown, Ohio, factory, according to the UAW.
“This agreement is a gamechanger for the electric vehicle battery industry, and for the future of Lordstown and towns like it all across this country,” Fain said in the Monday statement. “This is the kind of agreement that makes thousands of electric vehicle battery workers want to join the UAW and fight for a better future.”
Under the agreement, journeypersons’ pay will immediately increase to $38.16. Over the next three years, wages will increase 30% for production, quality, SRP and material handling workers, according to a UAW graphic. UAW members at Ultium will also receive paid relief time, as well as full pay for bereavement and jury duty.
Ultium Cells’ $2.3 billion, 2.8 million-square-foot Lordstown plant was the first to produce batteries for GM’s electric vehicles. The company began production at its Spring Hill, Tennessee, facility in March.
