GM General Motors Company

By Nora Naughton 

Unionized workers at several major General Motors Co. factories have voted to back a proposed labor contract, an encouraging sign for United Auto Workers leaders under pressure to get a deal approved and end a six-week nationwide strike.

A majority of UAW-represented workers in Flint and Lansing, Mich. -- where GM has manufacturing operations employing more than 6,000 blue-collar workers -- cast ballots in favor of the tentative agreement, according to results posted by the union online. The deal was struck last week by UAW and GM bargainers.

Workers at a transmission factory in Toledo, Ohio, also have overwhelmingly voted in support of the new labor accord, along with members at a number of smaller plants that build engines and parts and supply other materials to GM's U.S. assembly factories.

The new labor pact offers GM's UAW workers wage increases, hefty signing bonuses and no changes to their health-care contributions -- all gains that union leaders are holding up as wins for the membership. But GM will move forward with closing three U.S. factories and made no commitments to relocate factory work to the U.S. from Mexico as union officials had hoped, a disappointment to many workers.

Final results are expected Friday evening. Union workers at several other major assembly operations, including truck plants in Texas, Indiana and Missouri, vote Thursday and Friday. UAW locals representing more than one-third of GM's factory workers had reported results as of Thursday morning. A simple majority is required to approve the deal and for the contract to go into effect.

UAW leaders did experience some setbacks: GM factory workers in Bowling Green, Ky., and Spring Hill, Tenn., rejected the proposed contract. Members at a handful of other parts operations have also turned down the deal, signaling officials could still face challenges in winning broad support for agreement.

Many workers say they have mixed feelings but are willing to vote yes, concerned about the financial impact of prolonging the nationwide strike or that sending bargainers back to the table could be a gamble that isn't likely to result in a much better deal.

"I just want to go back to work," said Stu Smith, an assembly-line worker at GM's vehicle factory in Flint, one of GM's largest plants, with 4,800 hourly workers. More than 60% of UAW members at the Flint assembly plant voted to support the deal, according to results made public by the union hall there.

"You never get everything. I think this deal is good for the times we are in," Mr. Smith said.

The voting marks a critical moment for UAW President Gary Jones, who needs the GM membership to back the four-year labor agreement to end a nationwide strike that is weighing financially on both the company and the union and having a broader impact on the Midwest economy.

If the contract is approved, the UAW will then call off the strike, providing relief to more than 46,000 GM workers who have gone without a company paycheck for six weeks, and then move on to talks with one of the other major U.S. auto makers, Ford Motor Co. or Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV.

The now 39-day walkout, already GM's longest nationwide work stoppage since 1970, has halted all production at more than 30 U.S. factories and cost the company more than $2 billion in lost earnings, analysts say.

A rejection of the contract would mark a significant setback for the UAW, one of the nation's largest private-sector unions, which is already embroiled in a federal corruption investigation that has eroded trust among its rank-and-file members. Mr. Jones then would have to decide the union's next steps, which could include returning to the bargaining table with GM or turning the union's attention to either Ford or Fiat Chrysler.

In an accelerated push to sell the deal to members, UAW leaders are traveling to GM plants around the country this week to attend union-hall meetings and answer workers' questions about the proposed contract.

UAW leaders say the contract delivers considerable gains for its members, including a record $11,000 signing bonus, a shorter timetable to full wages for new hires, and a path to permanent work for temporary employees.

Still, some workers have complained the contract language on temporary workers -- a key issue during the strike -- is too vague and doesn't do enough to protect them. Others expected more regarding job security after the UAW's top bargainer for GM, Terry Dittes, made it a focal point during contract talks, telling members publicly that they were pushing for more work to be brought back to the U.S. from Mexico.

Tabitha Edmonds, who works on the assembly line at GM's assembly plant in Orion Township, Mich., said she wanted to see stronger language in the contract that would prevent GM from closing more U.S. factories. She added that the proposed deal consists of the same loopholes GM took advantage of to shut three plants earlier this year.

"It wouldn't hurt for GM to bring back some cars from Mexico, too," Ms. Edmonds said, adding that she plans to vote no. The union local representing her plant votes Friday.

The walkout has cost the UAW an estimated $80 million in lost membership dues and spending on strike pay, which offers members financial support while on the picket lines, according to the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. The union's strike fund held nearly $800 million before the strikes began, the UAW spokesman said.

If the contract is ratified, GM will immediately begin efforts to restart production at more than 30 factories and about two dozen parts warehouses and distribution centers, a company spokesman said.

Heading into contract talks with GM this year, Mr. Jones pledged to fight for a better deal for UAW members. He criticized the Detroit auto makers at hand-shake ceremonies this summer for building too many vehicles outside the U.S., and at a UAW convention this spring told members to prepare for a conflict.

Shalonda Dozier, a 29-year-old assembly-line worker at GM's auto factory in Detroit, said she had some reservations about the deal and some people expected more after six weeks on strike, but she still plans to vote yes on Thursday.

"There is some good and there is some bad," she said. "I know some people want more, but you can't turn down a good offer. We're not going to always get everything."

--Ben Foldy and Mike Colias contributed to this article.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 24, 2019 16:20 ET (20:20 GMT)

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