The United Auto Workers and General Motors have reportedly reached a tentative agreement that includes the closure of three U.S. plants, including the Lordstown, Ohio, plant that has been in the news after President Donald Trump attacked GM over its shuttering.
The plant closures had already been scheduled to end production in November of this year, but GM had to negotiate the closures as part of the contract negotiations. Another plant, in GM’s hometown of Detroit, also was scheduled to be shut down but it will now produce an electric truck if the deal is consummated.
As part of the settlement, GM also will pay most of the union members an $11,000 “ratification” bonus once the deal is signed off on. Temporary workers now have a shorter path to becoming full-time employees, and they will receive $4,500.
Local union leaders and the UAW still must approve the deal, which would bring an end to the 32-day-long strike that has cost GM more than $1.5 billion.
According to CNBC, about 200 local union leaders are meeting Thursday in Detroit to vote on the deal and decide if workers will return to their positions while the week-long voting process ensues.
The deal also includes a 3% raise in wages in an employee’s second and fourth years of employment, and a 4% lump sum bonus in the first and third years for eligible, permanent manufacturing employees.
In addition, all workers will achieve the new top pay of more than $32 an hour within the next four years, which is down from an eight-year period that was part of a different deal struck in 2015.
UAW members will get to keep their “gold standard” health insurance, which requires employees cover about 3% of the cost, according to a CNBC source.
GM shares, which had fallen double digits at one point during the strike, on Thursday were trading down about 0.9% at 2:30 p.m. EDT. Shares are down about 4% since the strike began on Sept. 13.
