UAW Reaches Tentative Agreement w/ GM that Could End Strike

UAW members picket in Rochester, New York last fall (Zach D. Roberts)

By: Mike Elk October 16, 2019

This morning, the United Auto Workers announced that they have reached a tentative agreement that could end the 31-day strike at General Motors. The details of the agreement were not yet available to the public. 

“The number one priority of the national negotiation team has been to secure a strong and fair contract that our members deserve,” said UAW Vice President Terry Dittes, Director of the UAW GM Department.  “Out of respect for our members, we will refrain from commenting on the details until the UAW GM leaders gather together and receive all details”. 

A UAW council of 175 local leaders at GM will meet tomorrow in Detroit and decide whether to first end the strike or allow the membership to first vote on ratifying the contract before returning work. 

The role of these local union leaders will be crucial in getting the membership to accept the deal. During the West Virginia Teachers’ strike, union teachers continued their strike after rank-and-file union members rejected the first deal. In 2015, Chrysler workers also voted down a union contract by a margin of 2-1. 

Many UAW leaders indicate to Payday that it’s likely they will first ask membership to ratify the contract before returning work. 

Payday will update as we learn more. 

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About the Author

Mike Elk
Mike Elk is an Emmy-nominated labor reporter who covered everything from Lula & the Brazilian labor movement to major league baseball. He spent years covering union organizing in the South for The Guardian and was labeled by the New York Times as an "abrasive gadfly" for exposing within the labor movement. Raised in a UE union family in Pittsburgh, Elk was illegally for union organizing at Politico in 2015 and used his NLRB settlement to start the crowd-funded Payday Report. He lives in his hometown of Pittsburgh and is fluent in both Pittsburghese and Portuguese, which he learned when attending journalism school at PUC-Rio de Janerio. Email: [email protected]

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