Dive Brief:
- General Motors offered the United Auto Workers a 10% wage increase for most employees as labor negotiations continue between the Big Three automakers and the union, the automaker said Thursday.
- Most UAW members employed by GM would also get two 3% lump sum payments, resulting in a 16% total wage increase, GM said.
- UAW President Shawn Fain hinted the union would likely reject GM’s proposal.
Dive Insight:
Amid the auto industry’s EV transition, the union is demanding an end to tiered wages and benefits, cost-of-living allowances, the return of defined benefit pensions and retiree healthcare, the ability to strike against plant closures, retiree benefit improvements and more paid time off.
But negotiations so far have been tense, with UAW members employed by GM, Ford and Stellantis overwhelmingly voting to authorize a strike if the sides couldn’t make a deal by the time the union’s 4-year labor agreements with the Big Three automakers expires on Sept. 14.
In addition to the wage increase and lump sum payments, GM offered most UAW members a $6,000 one-time payment to cover inflation costs and “$5,000 in inflation-protection bonuses over the life of the agreement,” the automaker said.
GM proposed making Juneteenth a paid holiday and providing a $5,500 ratification bonus for all employed UAW members. The proposal would also increase wages by 56% over the contract for existing entry-level, in-progression employees, increase wages by 20% to $20 per hour for current temporary workers and reduce the time to achieve the maximum wage rate by 25%.
But the UAW balked at the proposal.
“After refusing to bargain in good faith for the past six weeks, only after having federal labor board charges filed against them, GM has come to the table with an insulting proposal that doesn’t come close to an equitable agreement for America’s autoworkers,” Fain said in a statement. “The clock is ticking. Stop wasting our members’ time. Tick tock.”
This isn’t the first time Fain rebuked one of the Big Three’s offers. In August, Fain called Stellantis' proposals “a slap in the face." Fain said the maker of Jeep was proposing cuts to healthcare and retirement contributions, as well as fewer vacation days, among other things.
By the end of last month, the UAW accused GM and Stellantis of unfair labor practices, filing a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board over its contract talks with the two automakers. However, it did not file a complaint against Ford.
Ford submitted a new proposal to the UAW in late August, offering a 9% general wage increase — far below the 46% increase sought by the union. The UAW submitted a counterproposal on Sept. 6.
“Our union’s membership is clearly fed up with living paycheck-to-paycheck while the corporate elite and billionaire class continue to make out like bandits,” Fain said in an August statement. “The Big Three have been breaking the bank while we have been breaking our backs.”
UAW members made several labor concessions following the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler — now part of Stellantis. But the Big Three automakers made almost $250 billion in profits from 2013 to 2022, according to the UAW. Now, autoworkers want a larger slice of that pie and are prepared to strike to get what they want.
