The United Auto Workers and Fiat Chrysler reached a tentative agreement Saturday on a new four-year contract that includes a total of $9 billion in investments but still needs final approval from workers.
The deal, which includes modest improvements in pay for new employees and promises that the company will bring full-time temporary workers on permanently, passed this week after being voted on by GM’s 47,000 workers.
Some production workers could return to work as early as Friday night or Saturday morning, ending a walkout that was big enough to help push down September U.S. durable goods orders by 1.1%, the largest drop in four months.
Cars will soon start rolling off General Motors’ factory floors after a month-long shutdown, but the pain from millions of dollars in lost business will linger for some of the automaker’s key suppliers.
Some workers question why union leaders agreed to let General Motors close three factories, wondering if corruption inside the UAW influenced the decision to side with the company.
The deal was hammered out after months of bargaining but won’t bring an immediate end to the strike by 49,000 hourly workers. They will likely stay on the picket lines for at least two more days as two union committees vote on the deal, after which the members will have to approve.
The appearance of two key executives is a strong sign that bargainers are closing in on a contract agreement that would end the strike, which began on Sept. 16.
With the strike by factory workers against General Motors in its 29th day, there are signs that negotiators may be moving toward an agreement.
The strike has passed the point where GM can make up lost production, according to auto industry analysts.
Nearly four weeks into the United Auto Workers’ strike against General Motors, employees are starting to feel the pinch of going without their regular paychecks.
General Motors offered striking union members wage increases or lump-sum payments in all four years of a proposed contract, as the walkout continued in its third week. But union bargainers rejected the offer, according to a person briefed on the negotiations.
Both sides are hoping the strike doesn’t last much longer, but while bargaining continues, the top union negotiator says they’re far apart on major issues including wages, job security, health care and a path for temporary workers to become full-time.
The strike against General Motors by the United Auto Workers is playing out amid a corruption scandal inside the UAW that has caused distrust of the union leadership among many rank-and-file members.
One of the main sticking points is health care. GM is looking to cut its costs, but workers say they shouldn’t have to pay more when the company is making billions in profit.
Negotiators for General Motors and the United Auto Workers took a break from bargaining around 9 p.m. Monday but headed back at to the tables on Tuesday as a strike by more than 49,000 employees extended into a second day.
A strike by over 49,000 United Auto workers against General Motors could have been averted had the company made its latest offer sooner, the union’s top negotiator said in a letter to the company.
About 1,100 workers have been on strike since early February, and the refinery has been run by non-union supervisors and replacement workers.
The maker of Twinkies and Ding Dongs said late Tuesday that it failed to reach an agreement with its second-biggest union. As a result, Hostess plans to continue with a hearing on Wednesday in which a bankruptcy court judge will decide if the company can close its operations.
Hostess Brands Inc. said Friday it will close all of its plants, leading to the loss of hundreds of jobs in Indiana and thousands more nationwide. The company employs 288 in Indianapolis.
Hostess Brands said it likely won't make an announcement until Friday morning on whether it will move to liquidate its business, after the company had set a Thursday deadline for striking employees to return to work.