Striking United Auto Workers members picket at the General Motors Lansing Parts and Warehouse for the fifth week of the strike on October 16, 2019 in Lansing, Michigan.Bill Pugliano / Getty On the picket lines at a General Motors transmission plant in Toledo, Ohio, passing cars honked and striking workers celebrated a tentative contract deal by munching on 10 pizzas dropped off by a supporter.They had carried signs for 31 days and demonstrated the muscle the United Auto Workers union still has over Detroits three manufacturers.Details of the four-year pact werent released, but GMs latest offer to end the monthlong strike included wage increases and lump-sum payments, top-notch health insurance at little cost to workers, promises of new products for many U.S. factories and a path to full-time work for temporary workers.Thats a big difference from what GM wanted going into the talks: to slash total labour costs at its factories, which are about US$13 per hour higher than at foreign automakers in the U.S.Terry Dittes, the UAWs chief bargainer with GM, said the deal offers major gains for 49,000 union workers who have been walking picket lines since Sept. 16. Theyll stay off work for at least a couple more days while union committees decide if they will bless the deal. Then workers will have to vote on it. The deal shows that the union, with less than one-third of the 1.5 million members it had at its peak in 1979, still has a lot of clout with GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler.I think economically the UAW will do just fine in this agreement, said Art Schwartz, a former GM negotiator who now is a labour consultant in Michigan. The union certainly still has power in this industry.President Donald Trump called UAW President Gary Jones on Wednesday night, but union spokesperson Brian Rothenberg said he did not know what the men discussed.The strike immediately brought GMs U.S. factories to a halt, and within a week, started to hamper production in Mexico and Canada. Analysts estimated the stoppage cut GM vehicle production by 250,000 to 300,000 vehicles, and the costs to GM will hit around US$2 billion.Workers, on the other hand, lost north of $3,000 each on average, the difference between their base wages and $250 per week in strike pay from the union.Its nice to see theres a deal, but without knowing the details Im a little skeptical because we dont know the highlights or the lowlights, said worker Nick Kuhlman, who was among the strikers huddled around a burn barrel on a blustery, gray Toledo afternoon.I just hope it gets done, said Toledo worker Mark Nichols, who thought the strike would last only a week or two and was ready to get back to work because his savings are running low. Striking United Auto Workers members picket at the General Motors Lansing Parts and Warehouse for the fifth week of the strike on October 16, 2019 in Lansing, Michigan. Bill Pugliano / Getty GM apparently was able to close three of four factories that it wanted to shutter to get rid of excess capacity in slow-selling cars and components. The Detroit-Hamtramck plant will get a new electric pickup truck and stay open, but factories in Lordstown, Ohio; Warren, Michigan; and near Baltimore are to be closed. The Lordstown area will get an electric vehicle battery factory, but it wont have nearly as many workers as the assembly plant that for years made compact GM cars.The deal now will be used as a template for talks with GMs crosstown rivals, Ford and Fiat Chrysler. Normally the major provisions carry over to the other two companies and cover about 140,000 auto workers nationwide. It wasnt clear which company the union would bargain with next, or whether there would be another strike.The strike had shut down 33 GM manufacturing plants in nine states across the U.S., and also took down factories in Canada and Mexico. It was the first national strike by the union since a two-day walkout in 2007, and the longest since a 54-day strike in Flint, Michigan in 1998 that also halted most of GMs
Origin: Tentative contract shows U.S. union still has power, but members ready to work