© Reuters. Striking United Auto Worker union members picket outside the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan U.S., October 25, 2023. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook
(Reuters) – The United Auto Workers (UAW) union reached a tentative agreement with General Motors (NYSE:) on Monday, signaling an end to walkouts that have cost the No. 1 Detroit automaker more than $400 million a week.
The union has also reached agreements with Ford Motor (NYSE:) and Chrysler-owner Stellantis (NYSE:) over the last few days, in what is seen as significant victories for auto laborers after years of stagnant wages and painful concessions made by the union following the 2008 financial crisis.
Here is a timeline of events beginning with the election of Fain in March:
Date Development
March 25 Shawn Fain wins the race for UAW
president; vows to take a tough stance
against the Big Three automakers.
July 10 The union says it will open contract talks
with Detroit’s Big Three automakers starting
July 13.
July 11 Fain says the union is not afraid to hold a
strike at any of the automakers without a
fair contract.
July 19 Fain meets President Joe Biden at the White
House as the union briefs the staff on
contract talks with the automakers.
Aug. 1 The UAW presents demands to Stellantis, says
the union is seeking ambitious benefit
increases from the Detroit Three, including
double-digit pay rises and defined-benefit
pensions for all workers.
Aug. 2 The union presents contract demands to
General Motors.
Aug. 3 The union presents contract demands to Ford
Aug. 8 Fain angrily tosses contract proposals from
Stellantis in a trash can, citing numerous
concessions that the Chrysler parent is
seeking in labor talks.
Aug. 25 The UAW says 97% of voting members were in
favor of authorizing a strike at the Detroit
Three if an agreement is not reached before
Sept. 14.
Aug. 31 The union says it has filed unfair labor
practice charges with the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) against GM and
Stellantis, saying they have refused to
bargain in good faith.
Aug. 31 Ford makes a contract offer to the UAW,
providing hourly employees with 15%
guaranteed combined wage increases, lump-sum
payments and improved benefits over the life
of the contract.
Sept. 1 The NLRB says it will investigate the charges
filed by the UAW.
Sept 6 The UAW makes a labor contract
counterproposal on economic issues to Ford.
Sept. 7 GM makes a counteroffer to the UAW that
includes a 10% wage hike and two additional
3% annual lump-sum payments over four years.
Fain calls the offer “insulting.”
Sept. 8 Stellantis says it offered U.S. hourly
workers a 14.5% wage hike over four years but
no lump-sum payments.
Sept. 8 Fain says UAW expects to go on strike against
all three automakers the following week if
they do not improve their contract offers.
Sept. 11 Stellantis says it plans to make a new
counteroffer to the UAW after the union made
its own revised offer on Sunday ahead of the
expiration of the current four-year labor
deal Thursday night.
Sept. 13 The UAW rejects counteroffers from the
automakers and outlined plans for strikes
targeting individual U.S. auto plants in what
would be its first-ever simultaneous strike
against the Detroit Three.
Sept. 15 The UAW launches simultaneous strikes that
will halt production of some popular models
at three factories owned by GM, Ford and
Stellantis.
Sept. 16 Negotiators for the UAW and Ford have
“reasonably productive discussions” toward a
new contract, while officials at Stellantis
say a proposal to resume work at an idled
Illinois factory has fallen through.
Sept. 18 UAW says it will announce strikes at more
plants on Sept. 22 if no serious progress is
made in talks.
Sept. 20 UAW says 90 workers go on strike at
Mercedes-supplier ZF’s plant in Alabama.
Sept. 22 UAW will expand its strikes against GM and
Stellantis, but has made real progress in
talks with Ford Motor, the union says.
Sept 24. Ford says despite progress in some areas, it
still has “significant gaps to close” on key
economic issues before it can reach a new
labor agreement with UAW.
Sept. 28 The UAW makes a new counter-proposal to
Stellantis, just one day before it was set to
strike at additional Detroit Three
facilities.
Sept. 29 The UAW will walk off the job at an
additional plant at General Motors and at
Ford, says Fain. The new strike will not
extend to Stellantis, which called before the
scheduled 10 a.m. ET announcement to make
significant changes in its contract proposal.
Oct.2 GM and Ford say they are laying off another
500 workers at four Midwestern plants.
Separately, the UAW confirms it presented a
new contract offer to GM. GM says it has
received the counterproposal “but significant
gaps remain.”
Oct. 3 Ford says it had made a new contract offer
but says a dispute over battery plants
remained unresolved. Ford says the new offer
boosts wages for temporary workers, increases
company 401(k) contributions and further
shrinks time needed to get to the top wage
rate.
Oct. 6 The UAW holds off on additional strikes
against Detroit Three auto plants, citing
GM’s unexpected willingness to allow workers
at joint-venture battery plants to be covered
by union contracts.
Oct. 11 GM, Ford and Stellantis all agree to raise
base wages by between 20% and 23% over a
four-year deal. Ford and Stellantis agree to
reinstate cost-of-living adjustments, or
COLA.
Oct. 12 The UAW shuts down Ford’s biggest plant
globally, saying the automaker refused to
move further in bargaining. UAW negotiators
are expected to turn their attention to talks
with Stellantis.
Oct. 13 Fain says the union will not expand its
strike at the moment, but warns that members
would now walk out of additional facilities
without warning rather than wait until
Fridays to announce new plans.
Oct. 13 A senior Ford executive says the automaker is
“at the limit” of what it can spend on higher
wages and benefits for the UAW. Stellantis
and Ford say they will temporarily lay off
1,250 employees due to the impact of the UAW
strike.
Oct. 16 Ford executive chairman Bill Ford urges the
UAW union to end a 32-day strike and reach a
new labor agreement, and warns of the growing
impact to the automaker and the U.S. economy.
Oct. 20 General Motors and Stellantis raise their
offer to striking auto workers, matching
Ford’s proposed 23% wage hike. Fain says
“there is more to be won.”
Oct. 23 An additional 6,800 UAW members go on strike
at Stellantis’s largest assembly plant.
Oct. 24 General Motors withdraws its 2023 profit
outlook just ahead of a new UAW walkout at
its Arlington, Texas, factory.
Oct. 25 UAW and Ford announce tentative agreement on
labor deal that will last 4-1/2 years and
provide a record pay increase.
Oct. 26 Ford withdraws full-year results outlook due
to “uncertainty” over pending ratification of
its deal with the union, and warned of
continued pressure on electric vehicles.
Oct. 28 Stellantis and UAW reach tentative agreement
on new labor contract, the union said.
Oct. 28 UAW expands strike against General Motors to
include an engine plant, in a move that could
stall GM’s large pickup production.
Oct. 30 GM and the UAW union reached a tentative
agreement, with union members winning record
pay hikes to end six weeks of a coordinated
strike against the Detroit Three automakers.
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