General Motors agreed to cover its electric vehicle battery manufacturing under the United Auto Workers master national agreement, UAW President Shawn Fain said during a livestream event Friday afternoon. It’s a significant development in negotiations between the UAW and the Big Three automakers — GM, Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis.
Shortly before GM agreed to the concession, the UAW had threatened to strike GM’s Arlington Assembly plant in Texas, he said. The factory builds highly profitable, full-size SUVs, including the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, GMC Yukon and Yukon XL, and Cadillac Escalade and Escalade-V. According to GM, it employs more than 5,300 people.
Fain heralded the announcement as a major victory for the union, saying the threat of a strike at one of the automaker’s most important plants “brought GM to the table.”
“We've been told for months that this is impossible. We've been told the EV future must be a race to the bottom, and now we've called their bluff,” he said. “Today, we made GM say ‘yes’ when they’d rather say ‘no.’”
While the automotive industry’s transition to EVs has not been a formal part of the collective bargaining process, the UAW has worried that tens of thousands of its members would lose their jobs as the Big Three shut down internal combustion engine and transmission plants. The union was concerned it would replace them with battery factories providing lower wages, worse benefits and few job protections.
”Negotiations remain ongoing, and we will continue to work towards finding solutions to address outstanding issues.” a GM spokesperson said in an email. “Our goal remains to reach an agreement that rewards our employees and allows GM to be successful into the future.”
Fain said the UAW expects Ford and Stellantis to agree to similar terms or risk widespread strikes at their most lucrative facilities.
“The Big Three know we’re not messing around, and they know that if they want to avoid further strikes, then they will have to pony up,” he said. “We're not going to wait around forever. We're not here to start a fight. We're here to finish one.”
