INDIANA – The United Auto Workers Union and Stellantis have agreed to a tentative deal following roughly six weeks of targeted U.S. labor strikes, the union announced Saturday afternoon.
The terms of the deal had to be approved by UAW leadership before the union could officially brief local union leaders and then publicly announce the tentative agreement.
The deal, which would still need to be approved by union leaders and ratified by members, is patterned off a 4½-year agreement reached between the union and Ford Motor on Wednesday.
“Once again, we have achieved what just weeks ago we were told was impossible,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement. “At Stellantis in particular, we have not only secured a record contract, we have begun to turn the tide in the war on the American working class.
While there had been hopes the UAW would soon reach a similar deal with General Motors, on Saturday the union expanded its strike to a GM assembly plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee.
“We are ready to stand up and fight when called upon,” said Local UAW Local 440 President Derek Cronin.
“Right now this fight is about not getting the dignity and respect we deserve,” added Cronin. “For the long hours and work we put in. We work seven days a week 12 hours a day. That work needs to be dignified. This is about the working class the ones that work for a living.
There are 550 union members of the Bedford GM Powertrain plant and approximately 703 employees in total. The Bedford plant is served by two unions the United Auto Workers which represent the production workers and the International Brother Electrical Workers which represent the skill trades.
“We are disappointed by GM’s unnecessary and irresponsible refusal to come to a fair agreement,” Fain said in a statement.
