After striking for more than six weeks, the United Auto Workers Union has settled with
the big three car makers.
Votes to ratify the deal are underway, including by union members from Wisconsin, at GM and
Stellantis, the former Chrysler.
The GM contract deal with the company's includes a 70 percent starting wage hike to $30 an
hour, and the ability to reach the top pay scale of $42 an hour.
For more on the union battle to recoup losses workers took in 2008 concessions to help the
company's stave off bankruptcy, we turn to Steve Frisk, UAW Local 722 President, GM and
Hudson, who's in Detroit right now for the vote.
Steve, thanks very much for being here.
Thanks for having me.
So what is it like to have settled and be off to vote to ratify?
Well, it's exciting and we were out for just about 39 days this time after being out 42
four years ago.
So it was a long time out and, you know, it takes a toll, especially on a lot of our younger
members who just started working here and don't make the top wage.
It takes a huge amount of sacrifice and dedication to be out there on that picket line, which
we were 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
But it's exciting that we got a tentative contract.
What I'm reading and hearing so far sounds very favorable.
We will be rolling that out this afternoon for all the presidents and chairmen of the
UAW General Motors departments across the country.
And then we will take a vote on whether to send it to the membership for a ratification
vote.
So that's what we will be doing this afternoon.
Would you expect this to be ratified by members?
What I've seen so far, yes, I really do.
It's a huge increase, especially for our younger members.
It's bringing them up to the wages that the legacy employees that have been here for a
long time are at.
It's getting rid of the tiers, which we have been arguing and fighting for since they were
implemented back after the near bankruptcy in 2008 and 2009.
Unions were based on equal pay for equal work.
That's our belief.
We believe that these younger people should have a path to get to the full wage and make
the same as the people that they're working next to it.
And this contract allows that to happen.
Cost of living is back in the contract, which we have had suspended since the bankruptcy
time frame.
So I really expect this contract to pass.
We obviously need to go over some stuff yet because we haven't seen everything in that
contract book yet.
But I'm very hopeful that we will pass it and send it to the membership for ratification.
What does the contract deal born of the UAW strike say about the new might of the union?
It's a totally different leadership.
As I'm sure you know, there was a lot of corruption in the UAW and the administrative
caucus that was in there for since basically since the union started has now been replaced
with a one member, one bolt.
So Sean Fane has only been in office for since February of this year.
They had obviously a different approach to the strike.
Normally they pick a company and target company and go after them to try to get an agreement.
And then the other two companies, we call it pattern bargaining, will basically go on
the same type of contract pretty close to what the pattern bargaining, the original place
was.
This time he pitted all three against each other and to see who would get out the best
deals.
I think it kept the companies on their toes.
They did not know what plans were going to be maybe struck next and they couldn't prepare
for it.
And I think it was very successful.
And that's why I think all three agreements are probably going to be ratified and because
I think it's the biggest gains that we've gotten in my lifetime since I've worked here.
Speaking of big gains, do increased labor costs jeopardize automakers as they transition
to electric vehicles?
That's what the company would like you to believe.
Labor costs are a very minute portion of what a vehicle costs.
It's typically in the five to seven percent range.
They like to say that, but these companies have been raking record profits for the last
10 years, the last decade, they've made over 250 billion in profits between the three of
them.
CEO pay went up 40 percent in the last four years, the cost of vehicles have gone up 30
percent in the last four years, inflation's gone up just under 19 percent and our wages
have gone up 6 percent.
So if they want to blame it on our wages, that's just not factual.
It's just once again, they don't want to share the money that they make with their workers.
That's not just a problem with the big three.
That's a problem across every business and they don't want to share profits with the
people that actually make them the profits and that's their workers.
All right.
We need to leave it there, Steve Frisk in Detroit.
Thanks very much.
Thank you for having us.
You have a nice day.
If you want to follow up with you or something after this comes through, let me know.
That's great.
Do you know anything about the pensions?
This is one thing that they've really kept under wraps.
So we really don't know a lot what they've done with the pensions.
If it models the Ford pension, it'll be basically a $5 a year raise for accredited
service.
So if you put in 30 years, your monthly pension would go up approximately $150.
That's what Ford sort of did, but we don't know for a fact that General Motors copied
that exactly.
So we should find that out this afternoon.
That's exciting.
What you're going to find in that contract book.
All right.
Steve.
Thank you so much.
Thanks.
You're very welcome.
Thank you.
Have a nice day.
You too.
Bye-bye.