The United Auto Workers and Ultium Cells LLC have reached a tentative agreement on wages at the battery cell plant in northeast Ohio that would provide an immediate, across-the-board wage increase and back pay for those who qualify, if the hourly workforce ratifies it.
Ultium Cells is the joint venture owned by General Motors and battery maker LG Energy Solution. It makes battery cells for the EV batteries GM uses in its new EVs powered by the Ultium propulsion system. That includes the GMC Hummer EV, Cadillac Lyriq, Chevrolet Silverado EV and Chevrolet Blazer EV, which started shipping to dealers late last month.
In a statement released by Ultium on Thursday evening, it said the deal is still pending a membership ratification vote, which is expected to conclude on Sunday. But, if ratified, then effective Monday, all Ultium hourly employees’ wages will be increased. The average wage increase being about 25%.
There are about 1,150 union members at the plant, the UAW said, adding that the starting wage there is $16.50 an hour. This tentative agreement would push that up to a little more than $20 an hour.
The interim wage increase will be retroactive, so active current hourly employees will receive back pay for every hour worked since Dec. 23, 2022, Ultium Cells spokeswoman Katie Burdette said in a statement to the media. Any current employee who has worked since Dec. 23 can receive payment of $3,000 to $7,000, based on hours worked.
Only the first step
In December, the hourly workforce at Ultium Cells voted to unionize the plant near Lordstown, Ohio, after the union and the company spent months at odds over the organizing process.
“This agreement is a significant and meaningful step as we continue to negotiate collaboratively and in good faith with the UAW to reach a comprehensive contract,” Ultium Ohio Plant Director Kareem Maine said in a statement.
Josh Ayers, UAW Local 1112 chairman, said in a statement that the interim wage increase is only the first step as the union and company continue to work on “a fair and comprehensive contract.”
“The UAW Local 1112 members working at Ultium Cells deserve this increase for being essential in getting the plant up and running,” Ayers said. “While an entire ‘first’ agreement is being negotiated, the committee is still hard at work in bargaining working conditions, health and safety, seniority rights, addressing other issues raised by the membership and future wage increases throughout the term of this agreement.”
Working conditions remain an issue
The fact that a tentative agreement has been reached is remarkable considering how critical UAW President Shawn Fain has been of joint ventures, which he sees as a strategy whereby a company can circumvent the union’s negotiated wages and benefits in its national contract by starting a new business — the joint venture — with a new workforce.
Utlium Cell’s wages and working conditions have been contentious during negotiations. The bargaining team traveled to Washington, D.C., earlier this summer to talk to policymakers “about issues such as exposure to chemicals that are not yet regulated by OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and how employees are getting sick and passing out,” Fain said during a Facebook Live presentation earlier this summer.
He has advocated pulling that workforce into the national agreement the union has with GM, Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis so that hourly workers at Ultium Cells get similar pay and benefits. A spokesman for the UAW said Fain’s position has not changed in that he continues to seek agreements with battery makers that are on par with the national agreement in terms of pay, safety and other benefits.
The UAW is renegotiating its national contract that covers some 150,000 UAW members across the Detroit Three. The current contract expires at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 14.
Industry experts have said any lucrative agreement at this Ultium plant likely signals that Ultium’s two other plants — one being built in Spring Hill, Tennessee, and the other in Lansing — will likely also vote yes for union representation. All three Ultium plants will be near GM assembly plants, which are already union-represented. GM will build a fourth battery plant in New Carlisle, which is about 15 miles west of South Bend, Indiana, with partner Samsung SDI, due to open in 2026.
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Contact Jamie L. LaReau: jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.