30 October, 2023IndustriALL affiliate United Auto Workers Union (UAW) have halted strikes at Ford, Stellantis and General Motors plants after reaching tentative agreements on record contracts in a strike that started on 15 September.
On day 40 of the Stand Up Strike, the first tentative agreement with Ford was reached. Three days later, UAW reached a tentative agreement with Stellantis, and today an agreement was reached with the last of the Big Three, GM.
Says UAW president Shawn Fain:
“For months we’ve said that record profits mean record contracts. And our Stand Up Strike has delivered. we have achieved what just weeks ago we were told was impossible.
"At Stellantis in particular, we have not only secured a record contract, we have begun to turn the tide in the war on the American working class.”
Under the agreement, workers at Ford will get a 25 per cent general wage increase, plus cost of living raises that will put the pay increase to above US$40 per hour for top-scale assembly plant workers by the end of the contract.
The agreements with Stellantis and GM follow that with Ford, where wages for most workers will rise by 25 per cent over the next four-and-a-half-years.
IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie says:
“IndustriALL congratulates UAW on this victory. This is an important day, not only for you, but for all other industry workers in the US and the rest of the world. Your courage, determination and tenacity have paid off.
"We stand firmly behind you in your successful fight for a fair standard of living and wage increases that mirror the record profits of the auto makers.”
The tentative agreements will be put to union members for approval before coming into force.