US auto strike nears end as union, GM reach deal

DETROIT

A wave of strikes that disrupted the three largest U.S. automakers for six weeks looked to have been finally resolved, as the auto workers union reached a tentative agreement with holdout General Motors.

The GM deal announced by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union comes after pacts with Stellantis and Ford, appearing to end the strike on the "Big Three" automakers.

The UAW launched the labor action on Sept. 15, marking the first simultaneous work stoppage of the three companies.

Workers were pushing for higher wages and other improvements, in particular relating to the transition to making electric vehicles.

"Like the agreements with Ford and Stellantis, the GM agreement has turned record profits into a record contract," the UAW said in a statement on Oct. 30.

Cost of living adjustments will cumulatively raise the top wage by 33 percent to over $42 an hour, the union said.

Other elements include an elimination of some wage tiers, and the deal also brings key groups including workers at Ultium Cells into the master agreement.

"The agreement reinstates major benefits lost during the Great Recession" of 2008-2009, the UAW said, adding that it also improves retirement.

GM workers will return to work while the agreement goes through the ratification process, said the union.

At its height, the strike mobilized more than 45,000 of the UAW's 146,000 members working for the Big Three automakers.

This month, Ford estimated the strike has cost it some $1.3 billion.
The in-principle pacts still need to be ratified by workers in a vote, in a process that could take two weeks, a source close to negotiations said earlier.