The American car workers' strike has made new progress. On November 16th, according to Reuters, the temporary labor agreement reached between General Motors and the United Auto Workers (UAW) has been approved.
Previously, on October 30th, the three major Detroit manufacturers reached a temporary agreement with UAW, which officially suspended the strike against the three Detroit giants. This 6-week general strike involving nearly 50000 workers is nearing its end.
Now, General Motors has become the first automotive giant among Detroit's three major automakers to approve the agreement. The other two giants, Ford and Stellantis, are still voting. According to UAW data, Ford and Stellantis have 67% and 66% respectively in favor of this agreement. The Ford vote will end on Friday, and the Stellantis vote will end next Tuesday.
UAW and Detroit have reached a new agreement that will remain in effect until April 2028, including a 25% increase in workers' basic wages within four and a half years, an increase in living allowances, an increase in retirement employee pensions, and the abolition of low wage levels for workers. According to the previous agreement reached between Ford, Stellantis, and UAW, including the adjusted cost of living, the final workers' wages will increase by 33%, setting a historical record.
After achieving a historic victory in the struggle against the Detroit Big Three, UAW stated that it will shift its focus towards non unionized car companies such as Tesla in the future. Some automakers have joined the ranks of salary hikes due to the pressure of settlement between the Big Three and UAW, and the implementation standards are basically consistent with the previous agreements reached between UAW and Detroit.
Japanese automakers are the first to take action. Honda Motor stated that it will increase wages for its American factory workers by 11% starting from January next year, and shorten the time required for workers to reach the highest wage level from six years to three years. Toyota announced that starting from 2024, workers in the United States will receive a 9% salary increase, the time for hourly workers to reach their maximum wage will be reduced by half, and paid leave will be increased.
Subsequently, this week, Hyundai Motors, a Korean company, announced that it will raise the wages of non union workers at its Alabama factory by 25% by 2028, and plans to increase the wages of workers at the Georgia electric vehicle factory in the United States, which will start production in 2025.
The latest company to raise salaries is Japanese automaker Subaru. Its CEO Atsushi Osaki recently told the media that Subaru will raise the salaries and benefits of American factory workers in view of the new labor agreements reached between the Auto Union and the three major Detroit automakers. The salary increase has not been determined yet, but it will be consistent with the industry level after the new labor agreement.
It is worth noting that outside the United States, Tesla factories in Germany have also announced salary increases. According to Reuters, during Musk's visit to the Berlin super factory earlier this month, Tesla announced that starting in November, approximately 11000 employees in the German factory will receive a 4% salary increase. In addition, Tesla will issue a bonus of 1500 euros in December to offset inflation, and starting from February next year, the annual salary of production workers will increase by an additional 2500 euros.
At present, the agreement between UAW and the Detroit Big Three not only provides unprecedented wage increases for workers in these three companies, but its impact has also spread to other non union automakers.