DETROIT — Jeep maker Stellantis has reached a tentative contract agreement with the United Auto Workers union that follows a template set earlier this week by Ford.
UAW President Shawn Fain confirmed the agreement in a video appearance Saturday evening and said that 43,000 members at the company still have to vote on it.
About 14,000 UAW workers who were on strike at two Stellantis assembly plants in Michigan and Ohio, and several parts distribution centers across the country, were told to drop their picket signs and return to work. So the agreement will end a six-week strike at the maker of Jeep and Ram vehicles.
The pact includes 25% in general wage increases over the next 4 1/2 years for top assembly plant workers, with 11% coming once the deal is ratified. Workers also will get cost-of-living pay that would bring the raises to over 30%, with top assembly plant workers making more than $40 per hour. At Stellantis, top-scale workers now make around $31 per hour.
Like the Ford contract, the Stellantis deal would run through April 30, 2028.
Under the deal, the union said it saved jobs at an assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, that was slated to close, as well at an engine plant in Trenton, Michigan, and a machining factory in Toledo, Ohio.
“We’ve done the impossible. We have moved mountains. We have reopened an assembly plant that was closed,” Fain said.
The deal includes a commitment by Stellantis to build a new midsize truck at its factory in Belvidere, Illinois, that was slated to be closed. About 1,200 workers will be hired back, plus another 1,000 workers will be added for a new battery plant, the union said.
“We're bringing back both combustion vehicles and electric vehicle jobs to Belvidere,” Fain said.
Vice President Rich Boyer, who led the Stellantis talks, said the workforce will be doubled at the Toledo, Ohio, machining plant. The union, he said, won $19 billion worth of investment across the U.S.
Fain said Stellantis had proposed cutting 5,000 U.S. jobs, but the union's strike changed that to adding 5,000 jobs by the end of the contract.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, who represents Belvidere in Congress, said he’s received indications that electric vehicles will be produced at the site. Stellantis had indefinitely shut down the plant in the spring.
Foster said he’s been working with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office and other state and local officials to reopen the facility. State officials are expected to offer the company an incentive package as part of the deal.
Bruce Baumhower, president of the local union at a large Stellantis Jeep factory in Toledo, Ohio, that has been on strike since September, said he expects workers will vote to approve the deal because of the pay raises above 30% and a large raise immediately.
“Eleven percent is right on the hood,” he said. “It’s a historic agreement as far as I’m concerned.”
Some union members have been complaining that Fain promised 40% raises to match what he said was given to company CEOs, but Baumhower said that was UAW President Shawn Fain’s opening bid.
"Anybody who knows anything about negotiations, you always start out much higher than you think is realistic to get,” he said.
Jermaine Antwine and other Stellantis workers picketing outside the automaker’s Sterling Heights, Michigan, plant were excited Saturday after hearing of a tentative deal.
“Anytime you reach a tentative agreement, it’s a good thing,” said Antwine, 48, of Pontiac, Michigan, who has spent 24 years with the automaker and is a team leader in materials at the Sterling Heights plant. "Ultimately, the numbers they did come to agree with is what the UAW wanted.”
DeSean McKinley, 45, of Detroit, said he is hopeful about the agreement even without hearing all the details.
“Through the grapevine, I hear it’s pretty good and that’s really a blessing for all of us, all the UAW workers,” said McKinley, who has spent nine years with Stellantis and works at the automaker’s Sterling Heights assembly plant, which joined the strike on Oct. 23. “A new contract for me... I have a son in college. I have a wife. I have a grandson on the way. It means I can take care of my family and better prepare for the future.”
The union and Stellantis went into intense negotiations on Thursday, the day after the Ford deal was announced, before finalizing the agreement Saturday. Talks were also under way with General Motors on Saturday in an effort to reach a similar agreement. Over 14,000 workers at GM remain on strike at factories in Texas, Michigan and Missouri.
The union began targeted strikes against all three automakers on Sept. 15 after its contracts with the companies expired. At the peak, about 46,000 workers were on strike against all three companies, about one-third of the union’s 146,000 members at the Detroit three. Automakers laid off several thousand more as parts shortages cascaded through their manufacturing systems.
Under the Ford deal, workers with pensions also will see small increases when they retire, and those hired after 2007 with 401(k) plans will get large increases. For the first time, the union will have the right to go on strike over company plans to close factories. Temporary workers also will get large raises, and Ford agreed to shorten to three years the time it takes for new hires to reach the top of the pay scale.
Other union leaders who followed more aggressive bargaining strategies in recent months have also secured pay hikes and other benefits for their members. Last month, the union representing Hollywood writers called off a nearly five-month strike after scoring some wins in compensation, length of employment and other areas. This summer, the Teamsters also secured new pay hikes and benefits for unionized UPS workers after threatening a nationwide strike at the delivery company.
Outside the Sterling Heights plant, spirits were high among strikers. Some said they looked forward to a ratification vote on the deal and going back to work.
“The tentative agreement is excellent,” said Anthony Collier, 54, of Sterling Heights, Michigan. “We hear that it’s going to be parity, at least, with Ford, so we believe a lot of people are looking forward to signing. Most of us had to dip into savings, get loans. Everybody knows the economy went up on all of us, so it’s a little tight to be out on strike pay.”