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More General Motors Co. workers walked off the job over the weekend after the automaker failed to follow its Detroit rivals in snagging a deal with the United Auto Workers to end the six-week strike.
Stellantis NV, maker of the Jeep, Ram and Chrysler brands, reached a tentative agreement with the UAW on Saturday, which included the same 25% hourly pay raise plus cost-of-living allowances over the more-than-four-year contract included in a similar deal reached by Ford Motor Co. last week. Those agreements still need to be voted on by the companies’ union members.
Now, GM remains the sole holdout.
Officials from the company and the UAW traded barbs over the weekend after 3,200 union workers walked out of GM plants in Tennessee, even as the two continued negotiations behind the scenes. One of the factories supplies engines to nine assembly plants and would widen production losses if a settlement is reached quickly.
“We are disappointed by the UAW’s action in light of the progress we have made,” GM said in an emailed statement on Saturday. “We have continued to bargain in good faith with the UAW, and our goal remains to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.”
GM Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra and UAW President Shawn Fain were expected to talk on Sunday, people familiar with the discussions said. The automaker and UAW made progress on the status of temporary workers but still needed to agree on retiree benefits, the people said. With 300,000 retirees — the most of any automaker — a $500 annual payment would cost the company $150 million a year for the life of the deal.
GM has more temporary workers than Ford, as does Stellantis, making the issue a thorny one to settle at the bargaining table. GM has as many as 10% temporary workers at any given time, and it would be costly to give them the 150% or more raises that have been offered by Ford and Stellantis.
Like Stellantis and Ford, GM has agreed to a 25% wage increase for hourly workers along with cost-of-living allowances, according to people familiar with the negotiations who weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
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