By David Shepardson
(Reuters) -More than 60% of United Auto Workers union members at General Motors’ Arlington, Texas, assembly plant voted to approve a new labor deal, edging it closer to passage, in what is the closest vote of the three Detroit automakers.
Voting on the UAW-GM deal has turned into a nail-biter, unlike Ford and Stellantis, where the union’s negotiated agreement to run through April 2028 appears set to pass with comfortable margins.
The UAW’s GM vote tracking site currently shows approval of the contract leading by a 54% to 46% margin with almost 31,000 workers having cast votes out of about 46,000 UAW-represented GM workers. The Arlington plant, with about 5,000 UAW members, has the most of any GM plant.
Voting officially ends on Thursday at 4 p.m. EST, although most votes will be cast on Wednesday.
The UAW went on strike for more than six weeks against the Detroit Three, seeking better wages, working conditions and cost-of-living adjustments. All three companies agreed to tentative agreements about two weeks ago.
Workers at other GM assembly plants have voted against the deal, including 60% of workers at its Fort Wayne, Indiana, truck plant, 53% at its Wentzville, Missouri, plant, 58% of workers at GM’s Lansing Grand River plant and 61% of workers at the Lansing Delta Township plant.
Seven of GM’s 11 assembly plants have rejected the deal. In addition to Arlington, workers at plants in Detroit, Fairfax, Kansas; and Lake Orion, Michigan; approved the agreement.
However, support for the deal has been very strong at smaller warehouses and parts facilities, where workers stand to gain large raises upon ratification.
Other GM plants have yet to vote, including its Lockport, New York, components plant with about 1,200 members.
UAW President Shawn Fain told reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday that early voting trends were positive. “Early results are very favorable,” he said.
The UAW’s new agreement with GM grants a 25% increase in base wage through April 2028 and will cumulatively raise the top wage by 33%, compounded with estimated cost-of-living adjustments to over $42 an hour.
Currently, about 66% of Ford workers who have voted are in favor of the UAW deal, and about 72% of Stellantis workers have so far voted in favor, according to UAW figures.
Automakers were previously slashing costs and navigating a bumpy road to manufacture EVs and catch up with market leader Tesla, but lower margins on those vehicles have deterred them from accelerating the move.
GM in October also pulled its full-year profit forecast due to the strike and postponed a $4 billion electric truck plant in Michigan.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in WashingtonEditing by Ben Klayman and Matthew Lewis)
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