Voting on the tentative deal between GM and UAW is winding down and it's close, which could mean a second rejection for UAW leaders.
Voting on the United Auto Workers tentative contract is heading into its final stretch and union leaders are facing a closer than expected vote as UAW members express displeasure with the proposed agreement.
Unlike at FCA U.S. where the tier-two wages paid more than 43% of the company’s workers led to the rejection of the first contract proposal, much of the opposition at GM appears to come from long-term GM employees hired before 2007.
Rejection of the contract would be another defeat for UAW president Dennis Williams and also for GM Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra, who has made good relations with the UAW one of her priorities.
Information circulated by the Autoworkers Caravan indicated that the opposition is based on the fact that the pay increase was insufficient compared to the sacrifices made by GM employees in recent years and failure to re-instate the cost of living allowance that was stripped out of the contract in when GM went bankrupt in 2009.
Critics of the union’s new contract at FCA and the proposed GM contract have argued that the real wages of long-term workers have been reduced because there is no COLA, which in 1970 was the source of a major clash between the company and the union. The union prevailed then and the cost of living escalator remained in the contract for the next 39 years.
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Much of the opposition comes from skilled trades, who feel their compensation has been reduced in real terms in recent years as overtime pay has been reduced. The consolidation of skilled trades remains a major issue in many plants. In addition, the special treatment for four plants in the plants in the GM Holding Group, which could be sold to a third party.
As in the FCA contract, tentative GM agreement includes a 3% pay increase in the first and third year and a 4% lump-sum payment in the second and fourth year. In addition, qualified first- and second-tier workers will collect an $8,000 signing bonus.
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Williams called the contract the richest negotiated since 1999.
Union leaders are clearly hoping the signing bonus and the promise of a pay increase that will allow second-tier workers to grow into full-pay after eight years of service will be enough to carry the day during the ratification voting.
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The voting among the GM locals is expected to wrap up this coming weekend