After weeks of strikes, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union has reached a tentative agreement with Chrysler maker Stellantis. The deal will see the pay of the average worker rise by 25 percent, while the lowest paid workers will see their pay rise by 165 percent over the length of the agreement.
The deal also sees Chrysler reopening an assembly plant that was closed earlier in the year, returning 1,200 jobs that were taken from US citizens, and building a battery plant to provide a thousand more jobs.
“Once again, we have achieved what just weeks ago we were told was impossible,” said UAW president Shawn Fain.
The company’s capitulation on all these major issues, ranging from pay to job losses, show just how effective labour organising can be.
Only days earlier, Ford also announced an agreement with the UAW, which will see employees’ pay rise by 25 percent over four and a half years.
General Motors has yet to reach an agreement with the UAW union, but the strike is reportedly costing them $200 million per week, so hopefully a deal isn’t far away.
If we want to force concessions from corporations and protect our livelihoods, we have to hit them in the wallet. We do that by organizing with our colleagues to take collective action.
Statistics show that union members in the US are paid 11.2 percent more, as well as having better access to healthcare and other benefits.
Join the labor fight today!
