(Detroit) The United Auto Workers (UAQ) union has expanded its strike against General Motors, the only holdout among Detroit’s three automakers, after reaching a tentative agreement with Jeep maker Stellantis.
The intensified walkout began Saturday evening at a plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, GM’s largest plant in North America, just hours after the deal with Stellantis was reached. Its approximately 4,000 workers join the 14,000 already on strike at GM plants in Texas, Michigan and Missouri.
The UAW did not immediately explain what prompted the new action after 44 days of targeted strikes. The added pressure on GM is substantial since Spring Hill makes engines for vehicles assembled in a total of nine plants as far away as Mexico, including Silverado and Sierra pickup trucks. An already striking engine-supply plant in Arlington, Texas, makes full-size SUVs, including the Tahoe and Suburban. Vehicles assembled at Spring Hill include the Cadillac Lyriq, GMC Acadia and Cadillac crossover electric SUVs.
“The Spring Hill walkout affects GM’s production so much that the company is likely to quickly settle or shut down most of its production,” said Erik Gordon, a business professor at the University of Michigan.
The union wants to conclude negotiations with the three automakers so that “Ford and Stellantis workers do not vote against [leurs] tentative deals because they want to see what GM workers get.”
The Stellantis deal mirrors one reached last week with Ford and saves jobs at several plants, the UAW said. Ford union local presidents voted unanimously Sunday in Detroit to approve the tentative contract after UAW President Shawn Fain explained the details, the union said on X.
As he explained the details to the full membership during a subsequent live broadcast, Mr. Fain, alongside UAW Vice President Chuck Browning, said the agreement represented a “point of historical inflection” to revive union power in an America where “we were left behind.”
The Ford and Stellantis agreements, which will apply until April 30, 2028, provide for a general wage increase of 25% for key assembly plant workers, including 11% once the agreement is ratified.
Meanwhile, the union continued discussions Sunday with GM, a spokesman for the automaker said. No details were provided.
On Saturday, the company said in a statement that it was disappointed by the extension of the strike “in light of the progress we have made”, adding that it had negotiated in good faith and wanted an agreement as quickly as possible. possible.
In a statement, Mr. Fain deplored what he called “this unnecessary and irresponsible refusal by GM to reach a fair agreement.”
The union launched targeted strikes against the three automakers on September 15 after its contracts with the companies expired. At the height of the movement, about 46,000 UAW workers were on strike, about a third of the union’s 146,000 members at the three companies.
With the Ford deal, which set a pattern for the other two companies, workers with pensions will get small raises when they retire, and those hired after 2007 with 401(k) plans will get big raises. Workers also get two weeks of parental leave — a first in UAW history, Fain said Sunday.
Other union leaders who have pursued aggressive bargaining strategies in recent months have also won pay raises and other benefits for their members. Last month, the union representing Hollywood writers called off a nearly five-month strike after scoring some victories on compensation, tenure and other areas.