The United Auto Workers (UAW) union has achieved a major victory, with its members overwhelmingly ratifying a new contract with Ford. This is in addition to similar deals with General Motors and Stellantis, which will result in higher pay across the industry, and help reshape the auto business as it transitions away from gasoline-fueled vehicles.
Ford workers voted 69.3% in favor of the pact, with a 15,000-vote margin in the balloting that ended early Saturday. GM workers had narrowly approved a similar contract earlier this week, while Stellantis workers also voted in favor, with 68.7% of them favoring ratification.
The new contracts, which run through April 2028, put an end to the contentious talks that began last summer and resulted in six-week-long strikes at all three automakers. UAW leader Shawn Fain had declared that the days of cooperation between the union and automakers were over, and had branded the companies as enemies of the UAW.
The new agreements are widely seen as a victory for the UAW, with the automakers agreeing to dramatically raise pay for top-scale assembly plant workers. These workers will receive immediate 11% raises, and will earn roughly $42 an hour when the contracts expire in April 2028. The automakers also agreed to end multiple tiers of wages, and to bring new electric-vehicle battery plants into the national union contract.
In response to the UAW contracts, three nonunion, foreign automakers in the United States—Honda, Toyota, and Hyundai—quickly raised wages for their factory workers. This was after Fain said the UAW would mount an aggressive effort to unionize their plants, and to recruit workers at Tesla.
The contracts should also lead to higher wages at auto-parts supply companies and in other industries, according to Art Wheaton, director of labor studies at Cornell University. He noted that UAW workers receive far better health care and retirement benefits, which is likely to be attractive to workers at nonunion plants as they age.
Mark McGill, a 67-year-old worker at Ford’s assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan, said the union has achieved a lot of power due to the new contracts. “Look at everybody now. People want to unionize,” he said.
The UAW’s victory with Ford, GM, and Stellantis is a major step forward for workers in the auto industry. It will result in higher wages and better benefits for UAW members, and will also help to raise wages and improve conditions in other industries. The union’s success is sure to be an inspiration to workers across the country, and will no doubt encourage more people to join the UAW and fight for better working conditions.
