Economic Justice Victory for Automobile Technicians in New York State

Today, September 4, 2024, New York State Governor Hochul will be signing a.4066B (Burgos) / s.5085C (Kennedy) into law. This law Requires Motor Vehicle Dealer Franchisors to Fully Compensate Franchised Motor Vehicle Dealers for Warranty Service Agreements.

As of today, New York State will ensure that Technicians employed at Dealerships will earn equal pay for equal work.

The UAW is proud to have led the fight for the passage of this legislation that supports the highly skilled, knowledgeable, and experienced Technicians who serve as the backbone of Dealerships across New York State.

With today’s signing, New York State will abolish the two-tiered compensation system imposed by the highly profitable Vehicle Manufactures. The Manufactures were permitted, by law, to pay less than fair-market labor time allowances to Technicians for diagnostic and warranty / recall repairs they perform versus the actual fair market labor time allowances charged for out-of-warranty diagnostic and repairs because yesterday’s law offered no definition for what “reasonable compensation” meant.

Today, New York State will define “reasonable compensation” to mean the labor time allowances published in the retail labor time guides utilized by Dealerships for non-warranty diagnostic and repairs. It will also require Vehicle Manufactures to fully fund warranty diagnostic and repairs at Dealerships which enables the Dealerships to pay the equitable labor time allowances to Technicians.

This change is monumental and will add $900 million to New York’s taxable wage base while putting money in New Yorker’s pockets, not multinational corporations. Today, New York State will effectively increase the weekly earnings for both union and non-union Technicians.

Today, New York State is living up to our state motto, Excelsior; we are slamming the door shut on this egregious example of corporate greed. Highly skilled, knowledgeable, and experienced Technicians will no longer have the vehicle manufacturers ripping off their labor, as today, economic justice prevails!

Special recognition to Local 259 members Carlos Gonzalez, Daniel Kunz, Paul Scaperotta, Estaban Sanchez, Will Ganshaw, Tim Gray, Bill Glynn, Krystine Ahearne, Saif Ahmed, Roger Sterk, Sebastian Ragonesi, Paul Tubito, and Pat McGrath. Each sacrificed many hours and days traveling to Albany so to lobby the Assembly and Senate. There were many ups and some significant downs, but we never blinked, we did not give up, and we did not give in.

And many thanks and much solidarity to our sisters and brothers in Region 9 and particularly Locals 686, 774, 897 and 1097. This legislation would not be possible without them. The greedy manufacturers attempted to splinter us, but because there was never any daylight in our SOLIDARITY, we prevailed!