Stellantis offers 14.5% raises to UAW; union calls it ‘deeply inadequate’
“This is a responsible and strong offer that positions us to continue providing good jobs for our employees today and in the next generation here in the U.S.,” Stellantis North America COO Mark Stewart wrote in a letter to employees. “It also protects the company’s future ability to continue to compete globally in an industry that is rapidly transitioning to electric vehicles.”
Stellantis matched the original GM and Ford proposals to raise temporary workers’ starting pay to $20 per hour and reduce the amount of time it takes new hires to reach top wages from eight years to six. Stellantis currently starts temps at $15.78 per hour.
Like GM, Stellantis said it would add Juneteenth as a paid holiday.
Fain appeared on Facebook Live on Friday to blast Stellantis’ offer, saying the 14.5 percent wage increase was not enough.
“It doesn’t make up for inflation, it doesn’t make up for decades of falling wages, and it doesn’t reflect the massive profits we’ve generated for this company,” he said.
He also said Ford’s latest counteroffer, released Thursday, made some progress on wages, although the two sides remain far apart.
Ford is now offering a 10 percent wage increase over the duration of the contract, Fain said, up from a previous 9 percent offer. The union did not specify whether Ford’s lump-sum bonus offer had changed; it had previously offered 6 percent in total bonuses.
Fain also said Ford’s latest offer shaved another year off the time it would take for workers to reach top wages; it’s now offering a five-year path.
Fain also said Ford is offering a cost-of-living adjustment formula that he labeled “deficient.” He said it would provide an “estimated 0 percent wage protection” over the next four years.
“That’s not COLA; that’s not even diet COLA,” Fain quipped. “That’s Coke Zero.”
Fain reiterated that the union does not want to strike but will walk off the job at any company it does not have a deal with at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 14. He noted that negotiations were ongoing with every company.
“This is movement,” he said. “That’s happening because we’re putting on pressure.”
