UAW's Busy Weekend: Tentative contracts reached with Detroit 3

It was a busy weekend for the United Autoworkers Union and the Detroit 3. Contract negotiations with Stellantis and General Motors were full throttle with the strike escalating against GM at one point.

By the end of the weekend, though, it looked as though the UAW had reached tentative agreements with both, closing out a major portion of the negotiations process and winding down the strike as union officials and members review the pending contracts for ratification.

Here's a look at what you may have missed.

General Motors and the UAW reached a tentative contract agreement Oct. 30, more than six weeks after the union began its strike against the Detroit 3 and two days after the union expanded the walkout to a fourth GM assembly plant.

A source familiar with the talks confirmed the agreement to Automotive News. Several news outlets also reported the development. There was no immediate comment from the UAW or GM.

GM was the last of the three auto makers to agree to terms with the union, which stopped picketing Ford Motor Co. late Oct. 25 and Stellantis on Oct. 28.

The deal is subject to ratification by GM's 46,000 UAW members.

In a surprise move, the UAW on Oct. 28 added Local 1853, which represents workers at GM's manufacturing complex in Spring Hill, Tenn., to the strike.

GM builds the electric Cadillac Lyriq crossover, the GMC Acadia and the Cadillac XT5 and XT6 in Spring Hill. That followed an earlier strike expansion on Tuesday to include 5,000 GM workers who build highly profitable full-size SUVs in Arlington, Texas.

In addition to the GM workers on strike, nearly 2,500 employees at other GM plants were temporarily laid off as a result of the work stoppages, which have cost the company more than $800 million.

Ford's tentative agreement with the UAW, if ratified by that company's 57,000 members, will give raises totaling 25 percent over the next four years, reinstate cost-of-living adjustments and give top wages to new hires after three years, among other benefits. Stellantis matched the 25 percent wage raise and also agreed to reopen the idled Belvidere Assembly in Illinois.

GM and union negotiators had met for several days in an effort to reach a deal, including on Saturday, and the auto maker had agreed to a 25 percent wage hike, according to sources familiar with talks.

— Lindsay VanHulle, Automotive News

Stellantis and the UAW reached a tentative labor contract agreement Oct. 28 that includes a 25-percent raise for workers over the life of the pact, a commitment to revive the idled Belvidere Assembly plant in Illinois and nearly $19 billion in new U.S. investments.

The UAW said roughly 14,000 striking workers will return to the job as the tentative contract goes to a vote of Stellantis union leaders on Nov. 2 in Detroit, followed by the rank-and-file members.

"Once again, we have achieved what just weeks ago we were told was impossible," UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement Oct. 28. "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."

The UAW said Stellantis wanted to slash 5,000 jobs and close its Trenton Engine facility in Michigan and its Toledo Machining plant in Ohio. The union was able to save both sites, secure commitments to reopen Belvidere and get the company to add 5,000 jobs over the course of the contract.

Fain said Stellantis put 103 percent more on the table since the strike began Sept. 15.

UAW leaders, in a video Saturday evening, said Stellantis promised to add midsize truck production on two shifts at Belvidere, which has been idle since February. They also said the company plans to add more than 1,000 jobs at a new battery plant there.

"We have saved Belvidere," UAW Vice President Rich Boyer said in the union's statement. "Eight months ago, Stellantis idled Belvidere Assembly Plant, putting 1,200 of our members on the street. From the strength of our strike, we are bringing back those jobs and more."

The UAW said the agreement follows the pattern set by the tentative deal reached with Ford Motor Co. earlier this week. The tentative deal gives 25 percent wage increases to members through April 2028.

When combined with restored cost-of-living adjustments, the union said top wages will rise 33 percent compounded to more than $42 an hour. Starting wages, around $18 an hour today, will increase by 67 percent compounded with estimated cost-of-living adjustments to more than $30 an hour.

The lowest-paid workers at Stellantis, temporary workers, will see a raise of more than 165 percent over the life of the agreement. Some workers at Mopar will receive an immediate 76 percent increase upon ratification.

Fain said "thousands" of temporary workers will be converted to full-time status upon ratification, and that no worker will remain in temporary status for more than nine months after ratification. Temporary workers currently make up roughly 12 percent of Stellantis' U.S. work force, the most among the Detroit 3.

The deal also includes 401(k) and pension enhancements for current workers and retirees, the UAW said. It includes the right to strike over plant closures, and the right to strike over product and investment commitments, which the union says is a first.

"We truly believe that we got every penny possible out of this company," Fain said. "We left nothing on the table."

— Vince Bond Jr. and Michael Martinez, Automotive News

The UAW's tentative agreement with Ford calls for the auto maker to invest more than $8 billion in manufacturing investments, including $1.2 billion in Louisville, Ky., for assembly of a new electric vehicle. The deal also puts an EV battery plant Ford is building in Marshall, Mich., and an EV campus under construction in Tennessee under the national contract.

The National UAW-Ford Council on Sunday approved the tentative agreement, sending it to members for ratification votes in the coming weeks. Applause could be heard outside of the union hall at multiple points during the five- hour gathering.

"We're so weighted with younger workers and they're economically going to benefit greatly from this," Marc Emerick, president of UAW Local 882, which covers workers at Ford Motor Co.'s Atlanta parts depot, told Automotive News. "The likelihood of it getting ratified is strong."

— Michael Martinez, Automotive News