United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain on Thursday dismissed as “insulting” a new contract proposal from General Motors that its leaders said was a “solid offer” that includes a 10 percent wage hike.
GM, the biggest automaker in the United States with over 92,000 employees, put forward on Thursday its latest offer for a new contract that includes wage increases and a higher starting wage, which the company hopes will be enough to avert an economically damaging strike.
“We think this is a solid offer,” Gerald Johnson, executive vice president of global manufacturing and sustainability at GM, said in a video statement on Sept. 7.
The automaker said in a statement that the offer includes “well-deserved wage improvements that far exceed” the GM’s 2019 agreement with UAW workers that runs out on Sept. 14, with the looming deadline triggering worries about a possible strike.
“We still have work to do, but we wanted to make this offer to show our good faith efforts to keep the process moving,” GM said in a statement.
Under GM’s latest proposal, most employees would get a 10 percent wage hike and two additional 3 percent lump-sum payments over four years. There’s also a $5,500 ratification bonus, along with a one-time $6,000 “inflation-recognition” payment, and an additional $5,000 in “inflation-protection” bonuses over the life of the four-year contract.
But while GM called the offer “solid” and labeled its efforts in talks as being in “good faith,” the UAW president shot it down.
Mr. Fain, who represents 146,000 at Detroit’s Big Three automakers, said in a statement that GM had refused “to bargain in good faith” and called the company’s offer “an insulting proposal that doesn’t come close to an equitable agreement for America’s autoworkers.”
“The clock is ticking. Stop wasting our members’ time. Tick tock,” Mr. Fain added.
‘Lot of Back and Forth’
Despite the tough talk on the terms of the new agreements, Mr. Fain has conceded that the union will most likely have to give up some of its demands to reach deals with automakers.“There’s a lot of back and forth in bargaining,” he told the Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday. “Naturally, when you go into bargaining, you don’t always get everything you demand. Our workers have high expectations. We made a lot of sacrifices going back to the economic recession.”
In addition to double-digit wage hikes, Mr. Fain has called for ending the tiered wage system that pays new hires less than veterans, reinstating cost-of-living adjustments, and restoring defined-benefit pension plans that the automakers ended years ago for new employees.
He told the Associated Press on Wednesday that the plan is for workers to go on strike if the companies haven’t reached a tentative agreement by the time their national contracts end at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 14.
“That’s the plan,” he said.
Stellantis has said it will give the union a counteroffer by the end of the week, while Ford said it has a track record of being able to reach creative solutions with the UAW.
Last week, Ford said it had offered a 9 percent wage increase through 2027 and 6 percent lump-sump payments, which is far less than the 46 percent wage increase the UAW is seeking.
“Overall, this offer is significantly better than what we estimate workers earn at Tesla and foreign automakers operating in the U.S.,” Ford President and CEO Jim Farley said in a statement on Aug. 31.
The union said Ford’s offer was well below its demands, with Mr. Fain saying it “insults our very worth.”
The Big Three automakers have said they want to reach a deal that’s fair to workers but that also gives the companies flexibility as the industry shifts to electric models that have fewer parts and require less labor.
In a video statement on Thursday, GM President Mark Reuss called for a balanced solution to the impasse.
“We need a fair contract that both rewards our employees and protects the long-term health of our business,” Mr. Reuss said.
Strike Authorization Vote
Several weeks ago, 97 percent of the the UAW’s 146,000 or so members who work at Detroit’s Big Three automakers voted in favor of going on strike if a new contract agreement isn’t reached in time.The authorization vote doesn’t guarantee that a strike will take place, only that UAW members have agreed to a walkout if the three automakers don’t put forward satisfactory terms for the new contract.
Strike authorizations are a common tactic during contract talks, though tensions around these negotiations have been unusually high amid the Biden administration’s push towards electrification.
The UAW has expressed concern about the transition to electric vehicles, including federally subsidized work going to non-union battery plants.
Mr. Fain has outlined an ambitious set of goals, including a 40-plus percent pay hike for hourly workers over the duration of the new four-year contract.
“Yes, we’re demanding double-digit pay raises,” Mr. Fain said in a video message a few weeks ago. “Big Three CEOs saw their pay spike 40 percent on average over the last four years. We know our members are worth the same and more.”
The UAW’s demands include an immediate 20 percent wage hike, followed by 5 percent raises each year for four years. They also want all workers to have defined-benefit pensions, a 32-hour workweek, and adjustments for the cost of living.
They’re also pushing to make temporary workers permanent, improve profit sharing, and bring back retiree health care and cost-of-living adjustments.
