UAW reaches deal with GM, ends coordinated strikes against Detroit automakers

(Reuters) – The United Auto Workers (UAW) union reached a tentative agreement with General Motors (NYSE:) on Monday, signaling an end to walkouts that have cost the No. 1 Detroit automaker more than $400 million a week.

The union has also reached agreements with Ford Motor (NYSE:) and Chrysler-owner Stellantis (NYSE:) over the last few days, in what is seen as significant victories for auto laborers after years of stagnant wages and painful concessions made by the union following the 2008 financial crisis.

Here is a timeline of events beginning with the election of Fain in March:

Date Development

March 25 Shawn Fain wins the race for UAW

president; vows to take a tough stance

against the Big Three automakers.

July 10 The union says it will open contract talks

with Detroit’s Big Three automakers starting

July 13.

July 11 Fain says the union is not afraid to hold a

strike at any of the automakers without a

fair contract.

July 19 Fain meets President Joe Biden at the White

House as the union briefs the staff on

contract talks with the automakers.

Aug. 1 The UAW presents demands to Stellantis, says

the union is seeking ambitious benefit

increases from the Detroit Three, including

double-digit pay rises and defined-benefit

pensions for all workers.

Aug. 2 The union presents contract demands to

General Motors.

Aug. 3 The union presents contract demands to Ford

Aug. 8 Fain angrily tosses contract proposals from

Stellantis in a trash can, citing numerous

concessions that the Chrysler parent is

seeking in labor talks.

Aug. 25 The UAW says 97% of voting members were in

favor of authorizing a strike at the Detroit

Three if an agreement is not reached before

Sept. 14.

Aug. 31 The union says it has filed unfair labor

practice charges with the National Labor

Relations Board (NLRB) against GM and

Stellantis, saying they have refused to

bargain in good faith.

Aug. 31 Ford makes a contract offer to the UAW,

providing hourly employees with 15%

guaranteed combined wage increases, lump-sum

payments and improved benefits over the life

of the contract.

Sept. 1 The NLRB says it will investigate the charges

filed by the UAW.

Sept 6 The UAW makes a labor contract

counterproposal on economic issues to Ford.

Sept. 7 GM makes a counteroffer to the UAW that

includes a 10% wage hike and two additional

3% annual lump-sum payments over four years.

Fain calls the offer “insulting.”

Sept. 8 Stellantis says it offered U.S. hourly

workers a 14.5% wage hike over four years but

no lump-sum payments.

Sept. 8 Fain says UAW expects to go on strike against

all three automakers the following week if

they do not improve their contract offers.

Sept. 11 Stellantis says it plans to make a new

counteroffer to the UAW after the union made

its own revised offer on Sunday ahead of the

expiration of the current four-year labor

deal Thursday night.

Sept. 13 The UAW rejects counteroffers from the

automakers and outlined plans for strikes

targeting individual U.S. auto plants in what

would be its first-ever simultaneous strike

against the Detroit Three.

Sept. 15 The UAW launches simultaneous strikes that

will halt production of some popular models

at three factories owned by GM, Ford and

Stellantis.

Sept. 16 Negotiators for the UAW and Ford have

“reasonably productive discussions” toward a

new contract, while officials at Stellantis

say a proposal to resume work at an idled

Illinois factory has fallen through.

Sept. 18 UAW says it will announce strikes at more

plants on Sept. 22 if no serious progress is

made in talks.

Sept. 20 UAW says 90 workers go on strike at

Mercedes-supplier ZF’s plant in Alabama.

Sept. 22 UAW will expand its strikes against GM and

Stellantis, but has made real progress in

talks with Ford Motor, the union says.

Sept 24. Ford says despite progress in some areas, it

still has “significant gaps to close” on key

economic issues before it can reach a new

labor agreement with UAW.

Sept. 28 The UAW makes a new counter-proposal to

Stellantis, just one day before it was set to

strike at additional Detroit Three

facilities.

Sept. 29 The UAW will walk off the job at an

additional plant at General Motors and at

Ford, says Fain. The new strike will not

extend to Stellantis, which called before the

scheduled 10 a.m. ET announcement to make

significant changes in its contract proposal.

Oct.2 GM and Ford say they are laying off another

500 workers at four Midwestern plants.

Separately, the UAW confirms it presented a

new contract offer to GM. GM says it has

received the counterproposal “but significant

gaps remain.”

Oct. 3 Ford says it had made a new contract offer

but says a dispute over battery plants

remained unresolved. Ford says the new offer

boosts wages for temporary workers, increases

company 401(k) contributions and further

shrinks time needed to get to the top wage

rate.

Oct. 6 The UAW holds off on additional strikes

against Detroit Three auto plants, citing

GM’s unexpected willingness to allow workers

at joint-venture battery plants to be covered

by union contracts.

Oct. 11 GM, Ford and Stellantis all agree to raise

base wages by between 20% and 23% over a

four-year deal. Ford and Stellantis agree to

reinstate cost-of-living adjustments, or

COLA.

Oct. 12 The UAW shuts down Ford’s biggest plant

globally, saying the automaker refused to

move further in bargaining. UAW negotiators

are expected to turn their attention to talks

with Stellantis.

Oct. 13 Fain says the union will not expand its

strike at the moment, but warns that members

would now walk out of additional facilities

without warning rather than wait until

Fridays to announce new plans.

Oct. 13 A senior Ford executive says the automaker is

“at the limit” of what it can spend on higher

wages and benefits for the UAW. Stellantis

and Ford say they will temporarily lay off

1,250 employees due to the impact of the UAW

strike.

Oct. 16 Ford executive chairman Bill Ford urges the

UAW union to end a 32-day strike and reach a

new labor agreement, and warns of the growing

impact to the automaker and the U.S. economy.

Oct. 20 General Motors and Stellantis raise their

offer to striking auto workers, matching

Ford’s proposed 23% wage hike. Fain says

“there is more to be won.”

Oct. 23 An additional 6,800 UAW members go on strike

at Stellantis’s largest assembly plant.

Oct. 24 General Motors withdraws its 2023 profit

outlook just ahead of a new UAW walkout at

its Arlington, Texas, factory.

Oct. 25 UAW and Ford announce tentative agreement on

labor deal that will last 4-1/2 years and

provide a record pay increase.

Oct. 26 Ford withdraws full-year results outlook due

to “uncertainty” over pending ratification of

its deal with the union, and warned of

continued pressure on electric vehicles.

Oct. 28 Stellantis and UAW reach tentative agreement

on new labor contract, the union said.

Oct. 28 UAW expands strike against General Motors to

include an engine plant, in a move that could

stall GM’s large pickup production.

Oct. 30 GM and the UAW union reached a tentative

agreement, with union members winning record

pay hikes to end six weeks of a coordinated

strike against the Detroit Three automakers.