UAW strike wins gains

The United Auto Workers (UAW) strikes in the US look close to ending, with major concessions won by the union. Strikes were suspended on Monday 30 October.

The UAW had taken six weeks of action (starting 15 September), which was spread to include, eventually, around 35,000 of the UAW’s estimated 146,000 membership in the three affected companies, Ford, General Motors (GM) and Stellantis (Fiat-Chrysler-PSA).

Major steps came in late October towards contract agreements, with union president Shawn Fain announcing tentative deals at Stellantis, Ford and, finally, on 30 Oct, GM.

These are set to include circa 25% wage increases (over 4-5 years), plus commitments to EV production with union labour, faster routes to permanent contracts for temporary employees, the reinstatement of cost of living increases, and more. In contrast to many of the UK strikes over the past year, these concessions rank highly and represent significant gains for the workforce, and in particular lower-paid staff.

They were won by indefinite and (gradually) escalating strikes, not by “marathon, not sprint” tactics meaning scattered strike days over months.

It seems likely these deals will be accepted given the suspension of action, though the deals are yet to be ratified by local chapters and then require voting on by members.

The UAW are widely being touted as the victors here, having won far more than many expected through targeted action (the “Stand Up Strike”). In either case — if the union goes for more, or accepts the current deals — the UAW have achieved a major step forward and should go into any future actions confident.