The UAW is not smiling. What team are we talking about?
In a letter today to its ~46,000 UAW employees at manufacturing plants, General Motors said it is offering a 10% wage increase for most, but not all employees. GM is also offering to recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday making it 16 to 18 paid holidays per year. There will be a one-time $5500 ratification bonus as well. Current “entry-level in-progression employees” earn a 56% wage rate increase over the contract. Existing temporary employees will receive a 20% increase to a mere $20 per hour. The tier system to achieve the top labor rate is also eliminated. There are also two unequal, barely comprehensible inflation payments.
“After refusing to bargain in good faith for the past six weeks, only after having federal labor board charges filed against them, GM has come to the table with an insulting proposal that doesn’t come close to an equitable agreement for America’s autoworkers,” said Shawn Fain UAW President this morning. “GM either doesn’t care or isn’t listening when we say we need economic justice at GM by 11:59 pm on September 14th. The clock is ticking. Stop wasting our members’ time. Tick tock.”
The GM, Ford and Stellantis UAW contracts all expire at 11:59 pm on 14 September. GM did not post or acknowledge the offer letter on its Investor Relations website? (AutoInformed: Ford UAW Offer – Pay Increases, Tiers Gone. UAW says No; Labor Day – UAW Struggles Are Key to The American Dream)
“Our offer has been developed considering everything in our environment including competitor offers and what is important to our team members. It includes well-deserved wage improvements that far exceed the 2019 agreement. We still have work to do, but we will continue to bargain in good faith with the UAW and work towards an outcome that recognizes the vital role of our team members in GM’s success,” GM said in a statement. The letter was signed by GM President Mark Reuss and Gerald Johnson, GM executive vice president of global manufacturing and sustainability.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, publisher (kzhw@aol.com), is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
Zino is at home on test tracks, knows his way around U.S. Congressional hearing rooms, auto company headquarters, plant floors, as well as industry research and development labs where the real mobility work is done. He can quote from court decisions, refer to instrumented road tests, analyze financial results, and profile executive personalities and corporate cultures.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
UAW Pans GM’s First Contract Offer
The UAW is not smiling. What team are we talking about?
In a letter today to its ~46,000 UAW employees at manufacturing plants, General Motors said it is offering a 10% wage increase for most, but not all employees. GM is also offering to recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday making it 16 to 18 paid holidays per year. There will be a one-time $5500 ratification bonus as well. Current “entry-level in-progression employees” earn a 56% wage rate increase over the contract. Existing temporary employees will receive a 20% increase to a mere $20 per hour. The tier system to achieve the top labor rate is also eliminated. There are also two unequal, barely comprehensible inflation payments.
“After refusing to bargain in good faith for the past six weeks, only after having federal labor board charges filed against them, GM has come to the table with an insulting proposal that doesn’t come close to an equitable agreement for America’s autoworkers,” said Shawn Fain UAW President this morning. “GM either doesn’t care or isn’t listening when we say we need economic justice at GM by 11:59 pm on September 14th. The clock is ticking. Stop wasting our members’ time. Tick tock.”
The GM, Ford and Stellantis UAW contracts all expire at 11:59 pm on 14 September. GM did not post or acknowledge the offer letter on its Investor Relations website? (AutoInformed: Ford UAW Offer – Pay Increases, Tiers Gone. UAW says No; Labor Day – UAW Struggles Are Key to The American Dream)
“Our offer has been developed considering everything in our environment including competitor offers and what is important to our team members. It includes well-deserved wage improvements that far exceed the 2019 agreement. We still have work to do, but we will continue to bargain in good faith with the UAW and work towards an outcome that recognizes the vital role of our team members in GM’s success,” GM said in a statement. The letter was signed by GM President Mark Reuss and Gerald Johnson, GM executive vice president of global manufacturing and sustainability.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, publisher (kzhw@aol.com), is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. Zino is at home on test tracks, knows his way around U.S. Congressional hearing rooms, auto company headquarters, plant floors, as well as industry research and development labs where the real mobility work is done. He can quote from court decisions, refer to instrumented road tests, analyze financial results, and profile executive personalities and corporate cultures. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.