GM’s Barra details ‘record’ offer to UAW
Union leader says automaker is getting serious with plan
General Motors CEO Mary Barra said Thursday the automaker made a historic offer Thursday morning to the United Auto Workers and will continue to bargain in good faith until the contract deadline to reach a tentative agreement.
The offer pushes the hourly wage increase up to 20% over the life of the contract compared with 18%, which is what UAW President Shawn Fain said it was last night. Fain indicated GM is getting serious about bargaining with this offer.
The UAW’s current contract will expire at 11:59 p.m. Thursday and the union is prepared for a targeted strike across all three Detroit automakers if tentative agreements aren’t reached. The UAW’s Fain has been negotiating separately, but simultaneously, with GM, Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis since earlier this summer.
“Today, we put a compelling and unprecedented economic package on the table that reflects the significance of this critical moment,” Barra wrote in a letter GM put out to its workforce. “We’ve worked days, nights and weekends since receiving the UAW’s demands. We have been bargaining in good faith to deliver a better package with historic wage increases and manufacturing commitments, recognizing your contributions to our company — past, present, and future.”
Fain told the Detroit Free Press on Thursday afternoon in a statement that the union is “actively reviewing” GM’s latest offer and looks forward to submitting a response.
“We wish they would’ve gotten this serious about bargaining six weeks ago, instead of hours before the deadline,” Fain said.
Barra said GM’s offer addresses the issues that workers have told the company matter most, “in spite of the heated rhetoric from UAW leadership. We continue to bargain in good faith, but with our contract set to expire at 11:59 p.m., I want to make sure you are completely informed.”
In the letter, GM indicates the “record” offer it put forth includes:
A 20% wage increase over the life of the agreement with a 10% raise in year one. Temporary employees wages would increase to $20 from $16.67.
Cost of living “inflation protection” included for maximum wage earners. GM did provide specifics.
Faster path to maximum wages. It is currently eight years, GM offers four years.
Under ‘Job Security,’ GM wrote “Continuing to work for all manufacturing and warehousing sites.” It did not offer further explanation.
No change to health care premiums for workers, plus a 25% increase to the retirement health care plan.
Lump sum cash payment of $500 to retirees and $1,000 lump sum to active employee defined contribution plan.
Juneteenth as a paid holiday, two weeks of paid parental leave, and up to five weeks of vacation.
“We are working with urgency and have proposed yet another increasingly strong offer with the goal of reaching an agreement tonight,” Barra said in the letter. “Remember: we had a strike in 2019 and nobody won.”
In 2019, GM’s hourly workforce of about 48,000 went on strike for 40 days. That strike is estimated to have cost GM $3.6 billion.
Fain has said the goal is not to strike, but to get a fair contract. But he has been firm that there will be no contract extension at 11:59 p.m. if there are no agreements. That indicates that there would likely be a strike.
As the Detroit Free Press first reported Tuesday, the union’s strategy, called a Stand Up Strike, is to strike certain plants in waves. It would be designed to be unpredictable. The name hearkens back to the famed 1936 Flint Sit-Down Strike against GM, which led to the first contract between the automaker and the union.
Barra said GM’s offer is “a historic proposal that rewards our team members, sets us up for the future, and continues our profit-sharing program so we all benefit from the company’s success. Let’s make new history, not repeat the past.”
GM is focused on a future of all electric cars that will grow the company with technology and innovation, Barra said.
“Our innovative attitude has been the fuel that drove the most successful periods in our history — a history of achievement that attracted so many multi-generational employees to work in our plants, including me,” Barra said. “We’re at a pivotal part of our journey, and to ensure our company thrives for the next 100 years we need to bring everyone along, together, and make sure we get it right. With our strong offer, we can get back to serving our customers who love the products we build, knowing that our families and communities are secure for years to come.”