GM’s union workers divided on contract deal in early voting

As United Auto Workers (UAW) members’ votes roll in on whether to approve the union’s deals with each of Detroit’s Big Three after weeks-long strikes against the automakers, the latest tallies indicate General Motors workers are more divided on their tentative contracts than those at Ford and Stellantis.

The UAW’s voting trackers showed that as of Tuesday, GM workers were in favor of ratifying the agreement, 54% to 46%, with more than 30,700 votes counted so far out of the automaker’s 46,000 union workers.

In contrast, Ford workers voted 66% in favor of their deal as 34% cast a “no” vote; 72% of Stellantis workers voted “yes” to accepting their contract while 28% voted against it.

Earlier in the day, the GM vote count was closer, with 52% in favor versus 48% against.

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While the overall counts among each automaker are all still in favor of accepting the UAW’s agreements, a majority of workers at some major GM production facilities have voted against their respective deals.

Last week, workers at GM’s Flint, Michigan, assembly plant voted to reject the contract agreement, and employees at the automaker’s Spring Hill plant in Tennessee followed suit.

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Production workers at Ford’s Louisville assembly and Kentucky truck plants also voted against the agreement by 55%, but skilled trade workers at the facilities voted 69% in favor of ratification.

Although Stellantis’ union employees appear overwhelmingly supportive of their tentative agreements, representatives of UAW members at the automaker have still heard complaints from some workers.

WDIV-TV in Detroit reported last week that Stellantis UAW Vice President Rich Boyer acknowledged in an address to members that he was hearing from those unhappy with the deal the union made with the Chrysler parent company.

Two common gripes cited were that the union was not able to secure a return to pensions or a shorter work week for autoworkers as they had aimed to do at the start of the negotiations.

FOX Business’ Philip Bodinet and Reuters contributed to this report.