UAW members overwhelmingly approve new contract with Allison Transmission

Members of the United Auto Workers union have overwhelmingly ratified a new four-year employment contract with Indianapolis-based Allison Transmission Inc., the company and the union announced Wednesday.

The contract, which expires on Nov. 14, 2027, covers about 1,600 employees at the company’s Indianapolis facilities, Allison said. The manufacturer has about 3,500 employees total, 3,000 of them in Indiana.

According to information posted on UAW Local 933’s website, 1,521 union members voted on the contract Tuesday, with 81.8% of members voting in favor of the contract and 18.2% voting to reject it.

“This milestone represents the culmination of dedicated efforts from both our organization and the UAW Local 933, demonstrating our more than 80 years of shared commitment to the well-being of our employees and the success of our company,” Allison CEO David Graziosi said in a written statement. “We believe that this agreement not only reflects our shared values but also paves the way for a strong future of continued growth.”

The new contract ends tiered wages—the practice of offering different pay scales to different employees depending on when they were hired. Among its other provisions, the contract also brings the minimum pay for production workers up to $20 per hour, provides a $7,000 ratification bonus for members and includes no increases to members’ health insurance costs.

The Allison contract follows high-profile wins for the union last year, when UAW President and Kokomo native Shawn Fain organized a strike against the Big Three automakers. That strike resulted in agreements that offered huge gains for hourly employees at those facilities.

“Unions are back in business and the UAW is leading the charge—and the proof of that is in this historic contract,” Local 933 Bargaining Chair George Freeman wrote in a letter to union members ahead of Tuesday’s vote.

Allison and the UAW came to agreement on the terms of the proposed contract on Jan. 5. The UAW had notified Allison that its members were prepared to walk off their jobs if an agreement was not reached by the end of that day, Freeman’s letter said.

The UAW’s previous contract with Allison expired in November, and a previous tentative agreement between the parties was rejected by 96% of union members. The new contract is retroactive.

Shares of Allison were trading at $56.59 each Wednesday morning, down less than 1% from Tuesday’s closing price.