Workers represented by the United Auto Workers union has voted to ratify a new contract with General Motors after 40 days of striking, Automotive News reports.
Update, 4:55 p.m.: The UAW has confirmed the contract has been ratified:
General Motors members have spoken,” said Terry Dittes, UAW Vice President and Director of the UAW-GM Department. “We are all so incredibly proud of UAW-GM members who captured the hearts and minds of a nation. Their sacrifice and courageous stand addressed the two-tier wages structure and permanent temporary worker classification that has plagued working class Americans.”
With ratification of the contract, the UAW members strike has ended, and workers will begin to report to work as instructed by General Motors.
The ratified contract includes an economic package of an $11,000 per member signing bonus, performance bonuses, two 3% annual raises and two 4% lump sum payments and holding the line on health care costs.
News broke of the imminent ratification from early estimates as early as 3 p.m. today, from Autonews:
Unofficial results compiled by Automotive News show that 56 percent of production workers and 66 percent of skilled-trades employees voted in favor of the deal. With 93 percent of votes accounted for the deal is mathematically assured of passage.
A simple majority of workers within each group is required to secure ratification.
The UAW called for a strike back on Sept. 15 after a breakdown in negotiations with GM over issues of wages, job security, and paths to seniority for temporary workers as was reported at the time, shutting down 33 plants in nine states and 22 parts distribution warehouses.
In the weeks following, GM was forced to reverse its initial decision to take away striking workers’ healthcare coverage during the strike, the automaker reportedly lost hundreds of billions of dollars in planned production inventory that wasn’t produced due to the shutdown, Truck Month was at risk of not having enough trucks, and parts shortages led to production at some of the few North American GM facilities that didn’t stop for the strike to pause.
The two parties reached the tentative agreement ten days ago with final votes due by 4 p.m. today.
Automotive News previously published a comprehensive breakdown of the “winners and losers” of the tentative agreement, which you can read here.