UAW declares GM contract ratified

The UAW and General Motors finally have a contract through September 2019.

"The General Motors Co. was notified on Nov. 20 that the agreement has been ratified," wrote UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada in a letter to union leadership late Friday.

Formalizing the deal was a long time in the making and means GM joins Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in reaching a new four-year national agreement. Ford voting wrapped up Friday but results had not been released at press time. Heading into Friday, the deal was in danger of being defeated.

In the end, the parties compromised on issues that led a majority of skilled-trades workers to reject it, despite the fact a 58% majority of production workers voted to approve the contract.

Skilled-trades workers opposed the company's bid to reduce the number of skill classifications particularly among mechanical crafts such as millwrights, pipefitters, machine repair people and tool makers.

Resolution came, in part, because the company agreed to restore some of those classifications, while retaining the ability to cross-train people to perform a variety of tasks.

"Following discussions with GM, the parties agreed to changes that protect core trades classifications and seniority rights," the UAW said in a news release.

General Motors said in a news release it is pleased the UAW has ratified the national agreement "which is good for employees and the business.

"We will continue to work with our UAW partners to implement the agreement, and engage our employees in improving the business and building great vehicles for our customers."

The process was longer this year, but the agreement should keep GM competitive, while giving the company's traditional UAW workers their first wage increases in 10 years. The contract also creates a path for workers hired after 2007 to reach parity with more experienced co-workers by the end of this decade.

Kristin Dziczek, director of the industry and labor group at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, estimates that GM's average hourly labor cost (wages and benefits) in the U.S. will rise from $55 to $60 an hour over the next four years.

On a labor cost-per-vehicle basis, GM will actually see a slight drop from $2,374 to $2,350 per vehicle, largely because it will experience a higher rate of attrition through retirements in the next four years, Dziczek said.

Proposed raises will take effect Monday but the two-week extension delays payment of $8,000 signing bonuses for 52,700 GM workers until after Thanksgiving and the Black Friday weekend. The extension also created tension in some plants between production workers, who approved the deal, and skilled-trades workers.

“A lot of people are already peeved because skilled trades are the highest-paid manufacturing workers in GM,” said Steve Stahl, a production worker at the Arlington, Texas, assembly plant.

On the UAW GM Talks Facebook page, Robert Denicolo, a worker in the Flint area, posted: "Lesson learned. Next time I'll know to vote no. Obviously the yes vote doesn't count until the higher pay grade says it does."

Both GM and the union have known since Nov. 6 that a majority voted to ratify the agreement but the no vote by skilled trades delayed formal ratification while UAW leaders met with skilled trades workers to hear their objections. Those meetings were followed this week with discussions between union leaders and GM's labor relations staff.

UAW President Dennis Williams and Estrada asked the company on Nov. 13 to extend a deadline for notifying the company until the close of business Friday.

GM agreed to do so.

The union's governing body, the International Executive Board, composed of Williams, vice presidents and regional directors, approved the agreement today.

Contact Greg Gardner: (313) 222-8762 or ggardner@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregGardner12