Dive Brief:
- Stellantis offered the United Auto Workers a 14.5% total wage increase over a four-year period for most employees as labor negotiations continue between the Big Three automakers and the union, the automaker said Friday.
- Most UAW members employed by Stellantis would also get a $6,000 inflation protection payment during the first year of the four-year contract. They would get $4,500 in inflation protection payments over the following three years.
- The UAW will likely reject Stellantis’ offer, partly because the proposed wage increase is far below the 46% raise the union seeks.
Dive Insight:
Amid the auto industry’s EV transition, the union is demanding cost-of-living allowances, retiree benefit improvements, more paid time off, the ability to strike against plant closures, an end to tiered wages and benefits and the return of defined benefit pensions and retiree healthcare.
But negotiations so far have been tense, with UAW members employed by General Motors, Ford and Stellantis overwhelmingly voting to authorize a strike if the sides can’t make a deal by the time the union’s four-year labor agreements with the Big Three automakers expire on Sept. 14.
In its latest proposal, Stellantis offered to raise the starting wage for supplemental employees from $15.78 to $20 per hour, a 26.7% increase. The automaker said the proposal would also allow in-progression employees to reach the maximum wage rate in six years instead of eight, a 25% shorter timeline.
In addition to the wage changes, Stellantis proposed making Juneteenth a paid holiday for every employee.
"They have the money. They just don't want Stellantis workers to get our fair share," the UAW posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday.
By the end of last month, the UAW accused GM and Stellantis of unfair labor practices, filing a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board over its contract talks with the two automakers. However, it did not file a complaint against Ford.
Ford submitted a new proposal to the UAW in late August, offering a 9% general wage increase — far below the 46% increase the union seeks. The UAW submitted a counterproposal on Sept. 6.
On Thursday, the UAW also balked at GM’s latest proposal, which includes a 10% wage increase for most employees.
“After refusing to bargain in good faith for the past six weeks, only after having federal labor board charges filed against them, GM has come to the table with an insulting proposal that doesn’t come close to an equitable agreement for America’s autoworkers,” Fain said in a statement Thursday. “The clock is ticking. Stop wasting our members’ time. Tick tock.”
UAW members made several labor concessions following the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler — now part of Stellantis. But the Big Three automakers made almost $250 billion in profits from 2013 to 2022, according to the UAW. Now, autoworkers want a larger slice of that pie and are prepared to strike to get what they want.
