(New York) After 41 days of strike at American manufacturers Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, the UAW automobile union and Ford reached an “agreement in principle” on Wednesday, immediately hailed as “historic” by President Joe Biden.
“I applaud the UAW and Ford for coming to terms after hard, good-faith negotiation, and for reaching a historic agreement in principle this evening,” Biden said in a White House statement.
The deal includes a 25 percent increase in base pay and cost-of-living allowances, the UAW said. It must still be ratified by workers in a vote which will take place in the coming weeks.
Ford said it was “pleased” with the result.
“We achieved things that no one thought possible,” said Shawn Fain, president of the UAW union.
“Since the strike began, Ford has put on the table 50% more than when we walked out. This agreement places us on a new path to redress the situation at Ford, among the “Big Three” (nickname given to the three historic manufacturers, Editor’s note), and throughout the automobile industry,” he added. .
This is the first time the “Big Three” have been targeted at the same time. The strike, linked to the development of the next collective agreements, mobilized nearly 45,000 employees in total on Tuesday, out of the 146,000 registered at the UAW.
“We are focused on restarting the Kentucky Pickup Plant, the Michigan Assembly Plant and the Chicago Assembly Plant, getting 20,000 Ford employees back to work and on delivering our full range to our customers,” said Jim Farley, CEO of Ford, quoted in his group’s press release.
After an agreement in principle, unions sometimes do not end the strike until it has been ratified by the members.
But the UAW announced that Ford workers would return to their jobs to put pressure on General Motors (GM) and Stellantis.
“This is a strategic decision to get the best deal possible,” said Chuck Browning, vice president of the UAW. “The last thing GM and Stellantis want is for Ford to return to full production capacity while they waste time.”
Again on Tuesday, the UAW called on its 5,000 members working at the GM plant in Arlington (Texas) to also walk off the job, after the manufacturer published quarterly results that were better than expected.
“Another record quarter, another record year. As we’ve been saying for months: record profits mean record deals,” commented Shawn Fain.
The tentative contract negotiated with Ford calls for a wage increase that is slightly less than the 40 percent that Shawn Fain demanded when the UAW launched the strike on September 15, but is significantly higher than the 9 percent that Ford initially proposed in August.
“The agreement provides for a 25% increase in base salary until April 2028,” details the union in its press release. “It will result, in total, in an increase of more than 30% in the highest salary, or more than 40 dollars an hour, and an increase of 68% in the starting salary, to more than 28 dollars an hour. time “.
“Ford’s lowest paid workers will receive a raise of more than 150% over the life of the agreement,” the UAW further notes.
The agreement also removes pay grades that disadvantaged young employees, improves the pensions of current retirees and guarantees the right to strike in the event of factory closures.
“Together, we are turning the tide for the working class of this country,” assured Shawn Fain.