Mary Barra, chairman and chief executive officer of General Motors Co. (GM), right, and Gary Jones, president of the United Auto Workers (UAW), shake hands during a GM event at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., on Tuesday, July 16, 2019.
Jeff Kowalsky | Bloomberg | Getty Images
DETROIT — The United Auto Workers gave final approval Friday for a new four-year labor contract with General Motors, people familiar with the vote results told CNBC’s Phil LeBeau. The ratification brings to an end the union’s 40-day strike, which cost the automaker well over $2 billion.
Some of the union’s 48,000 members with GM are expected to return to work as early as Saturday, showing the automaker is wasting no time in recouping lost production from the work stoppage, which started Sept. 16.
The UAW won several financial gains for members as part of the deal, including annual lump-sum bonuses or raises and $11,000 ratification bonuses, but it also agreed to not block the company’s plans to close four U.S. facilities, including three plants and a parts distribution center.
GM also agreed to invest $7.7 billion in current plants, add thousands of new jobs and shorten the time period for workers to achieve top pay of more than $32 an hour. Union members also maintain their health insurance, which is considered “gold standard” and requires employees to cover roughly 3% of the total costs.
The UAW will use the deal as a template for bargaining with Ford Motor and Fiat Chrysler, both of which agreed to contract extensions so the union could concentrate on talks with GM.
The national strike, which caused widespread layoffs at auto suppliers and GM’s operations in Canada and Mexico, was the longest for UAW members against GM since a 67-day walkout in 1970.
Many expected GM workers to ratify the agreement, but there was some doubt due to the planned plant closures and growing mistrust of union leadership amid a widening federal probe into corruption in the UAW.
