The United Automobile Workers union reached an agreement Saturday with Stellandis, the parent company of Chrysler, Jeep and Ram, on a new labor contract, a person familiar with the matter said Saturday.
The deal comes three days after the union and Ford Motor Company announced a tentative agreement on a new deal. Both contracts contain many of the same or similar provisions, including a 25 percent general wage increase for UAW members and the possibility of cost-of-living wage adjustments if inflation increases.
The tentative agreement with Stellandis will require approval by the union council, which oversees negotiations with the company, and then approval by UAW members.
The deal with Stellandis is the only General Motors that has yet to reach an agreement with the UAW
The union’s agreement with the three automakers was signed on Sept. Expired on 15 The union has since called for a walkout for more than 45,000 auto workers at three companies in factories and 38 spare parts warehouses across the country.
The most recent escalation of the strike at Stellandis on Monday was when the UAW told workers to go on strike at the Ram plant in Sterling Heights, Mich., which makes the popular 1500 pickup truck. The strike halted production of Jeep Wranglers and Jeep Gladiators at a plant in Toledo, Ohio, and 20 Stellandis parts warehouses.
For decades, the union negotiated identical contracts with all three automakers, known as pattern bargaining. Like the deal with Ford, the tentative Stellandis contract would raise UAW wages from $32 to $40 an hour over four and a half years. This would allow employees working 40 hours per week to earn $84,000 per year.
Stellandis, GM and Ford began negotiations with the UAW in July. With labor costs already higher than those of automakers such as Tesla, Toyota and Honda, which operate non-union plants in the U.S., the companies have sought to contain increases in labor costs.
All three major U.S. automakers are trying to control costs while investing billions of dollars to build new electric vehicles, build battery plants and retool factories.
Located in Amsterdam, Stellandis was formed in 2021 by the merger of Fiat Chrysler and French automaker Peugeot. The company’s North American business near Detroit is its most profitable.
Stellandis recently surprised analysts by posting stronger profits than GM, the largest US automaker by sales. Stellandis earned 11 billion euros ($11.6 billion) in the first half of the year, while GM earned nearly $5 billion.
Noam Schieber Contributed report.
