The auto workers union scored another major victory, reaching a pay deal with Stellantis that will lead to 1,200 workers getting rehired
- The United Auto Workers announced Saturday it reached a tentative agreement with Stellantis.
- It would see a 25% wage across four and a half years if ratified.
Three days after reaching a tentative agreement with Ford, the United Auto Workers announced Saturday it had also agreed a deal with Stellantis.
Both agreements would see a 25% wage increase for most of its members over four and a half years, if approved by union leaders and members.
Like the Ford deal, temporary workers are set to get the biggest wage increase, of more than two-and-a-half times. And no Stellantis worker will remain on a temporary contract for more than nine months if the deal is ratified.
But perhaps the most significant win for the UAW is that Stellantis has agreed to add a further 5,000 jobs after previously wanting to cut 5,000, according to Shawn Fain, the union president.
Part of that relates to the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois, at which Stellantis announced an indefinite closure from February, meaning 1,200 people lost their jobs.
"From the strength of our strike, we are bringing back those jobs and more," said Rich Boyer, UAW's vice president. "Stellantis is reopening the plant and the company will also be adding over 1,000 jobs at a new battery plant in Belvidere."
The UAW also said that Stellantis more than doubled the value of its offer since starting its Stand Up Strike on September 15.
The tentative agreement means that General Motors is the last of the Big Three automakers to reach a deal with the union. Bloomberg reported that talks between the two parties lasted until 5 a.m. on Friday morning.
"We not only secured a record contract, we have begun to turn the tide on the war on the American working class," said Fain.
"With this agreement, we're going from defense to offense," he added.
"From the managed decline of the American working class, to a new era of auto manufacturing.