UAW autoworkers officially ratified new contract, union says

The United Auto Workers announced Monday that employees at each of the Big Three U.S. automakers officially ratified new contracts.

It had been clear for several days that the contract would win approval. The union said 64% of employees at Ford, Stellantis and General Motors voted to accept the deals, which were won after a six-week strike.

The new contract will give union workers an immediate pay increase of 11%, and union members will get a total pay increase of 25% over the course of the 4½-year deal. The new contracts also reinstate cost-of-living adjustments, let workers reach top wages in three years instead of eight, and protect their right to strike over plant closures.

The contracts were negotiated after members of the UAW went on strike from Sept. 15 until late October, in its first simultaneous strike against Ford, GM and Stellantis, which owns Chrysler and other brands.

According to the UAW’s ratification trackers, 70.0% of employees at Stellantis and 69.3% at Ford voted for the new contracts. The vote was far closer at GM, where just 54.7% of voting members approved. The trackers show that 102,679 workers voted out of about 146,000 UAW members employed by the Big Three.

The new contracts are set to expire April 30, 2028. With ratification almost complete, the union is beginning to turn its sights toward Tesla and Toyota, whose U.S. workers aren’t unionized.