AFP – Members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) have ratified the in-principle labour agreements promising sweeping pay increases that were reached with United States car companies Ford, Stellantis and General Motors (GM), a union source told AFP.
“All three are ratified,” the source said of the agreements, which were reached after an unprecedented strike that lasted more than six weeks.
According to information published on the union’s website, around 55 per cent of hourly staff at GM voted in favour the four-year contract. “With negotiations now officially behind us, we will focus our full attention on executing our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan and serving our customers by delivering the high-quality products and technologies they want and expect,” North America Chief Operating Officer Mark Stewart said.
The strike came after UAW President Shawn Fain, who was elected in the spring, targeted Detroit’s ‘Big Three’ all at once for the first time in the organisation’s 90-year history.
It began with three factories employing nearly 13,000 people in mid-September, before the walkouts spread to more sites and eventually saw 45,000 of the UAW’s 146,000 ‘Big Three’ members downing tools.
