UAW Vice President Rich Boyer, middle, greets union members at a Stellantis facility in Center Line as they join the strike against the automaker in this Sept. 22 file photo. On Saturday, results posted by the union showed that members had passed a new labor contract with the automaker by a wide margin.
UAW members at Stellantis have voted in favor of the union's tentative agreement with the automaker by a solid margin.
Results posted Saturday on an online tracker showed the agreement passing by a vote of 19,741 in favor (70%) to 8,477 (30%) against, out of a total of 28,218.
A majority of both hourly and salaried bargaining units approved the deal.
That means union members at Stellantis, which owns the Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat brands, have now joined their counterparts at Ford Motor Co. and General Motors in ratifying new labor contracts.
A letter Saturday obtained by the Free Press from UAW Vice President Rich Boyer to local union presidents and other officials confirmed the ratification.
"I am pleased to inform you that our membership has ratified the new UAW National Agreement with Stellantis," according to the letter from Boyer, who heads the union's Stellantis department.
The letter, which notes that the agreement will be in effect beginning Monday and that various payments, including a $,5,000 ratification bonus, would be paid on Dec. 1, thanks the leaders for staying united. It also offers an assessment of what was achieved during talks.
"No, we did not get everything everyone wanted, but we corrected years of unfair wages and divisive language. We corrected future uncertainty for many of our locations with years of job security that will excel beyond the 2023 agreement," according to the letter. "We provided well overdue bonuses back to those that built the foundation we stand on today, our retirees. We have stopped the abuse and misuse of our supplemental membership providing them an accelerated path to full time viability. Today, is about you, the membership, to be proud of and enjoy this historic agreement."
The company, via spokeswoman Jodi Tinson, provided a statement from Mark Stewart, chief operating officer for Stellantis North America, confirming the ratification.
“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, especially as we prepare to launch eight all-new electric vehicles in the U.S. market in 2024,” Stewart said in his statement.
The results at Stellantis had been largely in favor of the deal as voting played out over the last couple of weeks, although one of the larger locals, representing Jeep workers in Toledo, did vote it down. But favorable results posted on Friday from two large locals in Detroit representing workers at the Jefferson and Mack assembly plants appeared to put the margin solidly over the top.
A number of large GM locals voted against the deal, prompting some speculation that it could go down to the wire there, but a win for the agreement at the local representing workers at the Arlington Assembly Plant in Texas appeared to put ratification back on track.
The approval of the agreements ends one of the most eventful contract talk periods in recent Detroit Three history. It included a targeted so-called Stand-up Strike against all three companies, believed to be a first instance of that tactic. Union leaders, particularly UAW President Shawn Fain, were also outspoken, even before talks began this summer, in demanding that the companies share with the workers more of the billions of dollars in profits they’ve realized in recent years.
The union also made a point of repeatedly highlighting CEO compensation that is hundreds of times what average workers make.
The deals themselves come with 25% general wage increases over the life of the contracts, with some lower paid workers realizing substantially more in percentage gains, along with the reinstatement of cost-of-living adjustments, and elimination of some of the wage tiers. Many supplemental workers, formerly known as temporary workers, will also be converted to full time.
At Stellantis, where the idled Belvidere Assembly Plant had been a big bone of contention, that community is now slated to see the production of a midsize truck, a new joint venture electric vehicle battery plant and a Mopar parts center “mega hub” in coming years, according to the union. That mega hub, however, signals changes coming to Mopar in the form of consolidation involving a number of facilities.
The union, as part of its Stellantis negotiations, said it also secured the ability to strike over plant closures, unfulfilled investment commitments and outsourcing of existing core jobs, which the union considers to be significant tools going forward. The contract will be in effect through April 30, 2028.
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber.
