“Victory at Last: Autoworkers Union and GM Reach Agreement!

The striking autoworkers have finally secured a potential deal and put an end to the months’ long strike. After five weeks of intense negotiations, on October 25th, the United Automobile Workers (UAW) and General Motors (GM) announced they had finally reached a tentative agreement. After a series of contentious contract talks, both sides emerged with a largely satisfactory agreement. The tentative deal comes after more than 100,000 workers had joined in on the job walkouts. UAW and GM had been locked in negotiations for weeks, resulting in missed production, estimated to have cost the company more than $1 billion. GM said in a statement that the new contract reinforces ironically strengthens the relationship between management and union workers. This is an indication of common ground and a shared understanding of the different roles each has in the production process. Under the new agreement, GM has made several commitments to the future of the company and its employees. In addition to a one-time bonus, the company has committed to creating 5,400 new jobs and investing $7.7 billion into US-based plants. This money will help to create electric and autonomous vehicle development jobs, as well as bolster the long-term contract that GM has with the UAW. GM also agreed to maintain the current health care coverage of the workers. The UAW is the first union to make such a creative and comprehensive deal with GM. There is hope that the gains achieved in this contract will go beyond just GM, and become the industry standard across other automakers. With the new agreement, striking workers will likely return to GM plants this week. GM and the UAW have been able to reach a common ground and the two are looking forward to the future of the automotive industry.