In the United States, an agreement in principle between General Motors and the UAW automobile union ends a strike that has lasted for six weeks

The American manufacturer General Motors concluded, on Monday October 30, an agreement in principle with the automobile union UAW, a few days after its competitors Ford and Stellantis affected, like it, by a strike since mid-September. Asked by Agence France-Presse (AFP) about the existence of a preliminary agreement between negotiators from the United Auto Workers and those from GM, a source close to the negotiations replied: ” Yes “without further details at this stage.

Several American media had reported earlier the conclusion of a preliminary agreement between the two camps, the CNBC channel emphasizing that the discussions had continued until early Monday morning to finalize it. No details on its content were immediately filtered. Contacted by AFP, GM and the union declined to comment.

A few hours after the announcement, the President of the United States, Joe Biden welcomed the social agreements “historical” concluded between the UAW union and the three giants of the automobile industry General Motors, Stellantis and Ford, after several weeks of strike. “These record agreements reward auto industry workers who have made many sacrifices to keep the sector running” during the great economic crisis of 2009, estimated the American president.

A simultaneous strike

The movement was triggered on September 15 due to lack of agreement on the expiry of collective agreements, mobilizing at its peak more than 45,000 of the 146,000 registered with the UAW working for these three major historic American manufacturers. This is the first time since the creation of the union in 1935 that the Big Three were targeted by a simultaneous strike, which increased in intensity over the approximately six weeks of its duration.

After calling for walkouts at secondary factories and parts distribution centers, the UAW struck hard, targeting the largest factory and the “more lucrative” from each of the three groups in Detroit (Michigan). Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant, which has annual sales of $25 billion, was included in the strike on October 11. The manufacturer reached an agreement in principle on October 25, after 41 days of strike, and Stellantis (Chrysler, Jeep, etc.) did the same three days later.

Ford “put 50% more on the table than when we walked out”rejoiced Shawn Fain, president of the UAW, when announcing the agreement with the manufacturer. “Once again, we have achieved what we were told was impossible just a few weeks ago”he noted on Saturday, announcing the agreement with Stellantis.

Job creation and base salary increase

These agreements provide for salary increases over the duration of the four-year collective agreements, cost of living adjustment measures, social benefits, improvements for retirees among others. They also contain specificities depending on the group, such as at Stellantis in terms of employment.

The group has in fact committed to creating 5,000 jobs even though it had planned cuts, notably in the context of the criticized closure of a factory in Belvidere (Illinois) which is “saved”according to Rich Boyer, vice president of the UAW. “We won a new vehicle in Belvidere”, he said on Saturday. The agreement with Stellantis calls for a 25% increase in base salaries by 2028, according to the UAW.

Ford also agreed to a 25% increase in base pay. This is lower than the 40% that Shawn Fain demanded when the strike launched, but it is significantly higher than the 9% proposed by the group in August.

The agreements in principle must still be validated by a national commission of the union then ratified by a vote of its members, which could take two weeks, reported a source close to the negotiations last week. The union has already announced that Ford and Stellantis employees will return to work without waiting for these votes.