United Auto Workers’ members at General Motors’ Arlington, Texas, plant ratified a tentative contract with the company on Wednesday, marking a serious victory for the union.
The UAW announced that 60% of union members at the Arlington plant voted in favor of the contract. The Dallas-area factory is the biggest GM facility in the country.
Before the Arlington results were announced, the outlook for total ratification was bleak. Several high-profile rejections at GM plants in Indiana, Michigan and Missouri this week caused some experts to conclude that GM and the UAW would have to return to the bargaining table.
However, as the union’s vote tracker shows, approval of the contract is leading, with 54% of total votes cast at GM going toward ratification and only a few facilities left to count votes. After the Arlington plant’s approval, 32,000 of the 46,000 UAW workers at GM have voted for ratification.
Voting is expected to end by 4 p.m. Thursday, with few plants left to tally their votes. The nine facilities left to count votes are small, and most have workers who stand to gain significant pay raises if they ratify the deal, suggesting that overall approval is close.
The UAW’s contract with GM offers workers a 25% pay increase over five years along with significant improvements to benefits and working conditions. The deals the UAW struck at Ford and Stellantis are similar in scope.
The outlook for overall approval at Ford and Stellantis is even better. According to vote trackers, 66% of Ford workers have voted to ratify their deal, with Stellantis workers at 72%.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.