Tag Archive for: GM

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UAW Vice President Ryan Hiestand Statement on Toxic Spill in Toledo

In light of the serious event in Toledo, the UAW-GM department stands with the UAW family and Toledo community. Local 14 was conducting testing and it was determined that the air quality was safe to continue production. We are continuing to monitor the situation and will respond quickly if the situation becomes unsafe. Our members’ safety is our highest priority, and our thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected.

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Statement from UAW President Shawn Fain on Corporate Greed at GM

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This morning, GM announced the largest stock buyback in US automaker history. The company is planning to give another $20 billion in profits to Wall Street while tens of thousands of autoworkers have no retirement security, while plants sit under-utilized, and while the global auto industry overtakes GM. This company has spent $30 billion on stock buybacks and dividends in the past 5 years alone, while kicking and screaming about costs during our 2023 negotiations. We will remember when we are back at the bargaining table in 2028.

Let’s be clear about what stock buybacks really are. They are a form of legalized mass looting, sending billions of dollars generated by the working class directly to Wall Street investors who’ve never seen the inside of a factory.

Why don’t 80 percent of GM’s autoworkers have a pension and retirement healthcare, as they did for half a century? Because someone on Wall Street is collecting their pension check in the form of a goddamn stock buyback. Why is GM nickel and diming their retirees while lavishing shareholders with billions? Because this company has sold its soul to Wall Street.

Who benefits? The majority of stocks in this country are held by the wealthiest one percent. Who’s the largest individual shareholder at GM? CEO Mary Barra, who made $48 million in 2025, a 60 percent raise in a year.  And just five Wall Street firms — companies like Blackrock and State Street — will get nearly $7 billion out of this scam.

Corporate America is destroying this country by looting the rust belt to pay off millionaires and billionaires for short term gain, while our factories sit empty and our working class falls further behind. GM hasn’t built a new plant in this country in 20 years. When GM is spending $20 billion buying back their own stock but only half that investing in factories, equipment, and productive capacity, they are choosing Wall Street profits over blue collar America.

When we bargained our UAW contract with GM in 2023, the media and the company acted like it was the end of the world for autoworkers to get a raise. But there’s always tens of billions of dollars for Wall Street. So when we return to the bargaining table with GM in 2028, I want the American public, the American politicians, and the American autoworker to remember this day. If there’s $20 billion for Wall Street, you better believe there’s our fair share for the working class.

🚨 DECLARACIÓN DEL PRESIDENTE DE LA UAW, SHAWN FAIN, SOBRE LA CODICIA CORPORATIVA EN GM 🚨

Esta mañana, GM anunció la mayor recompra de acciones de la historia de la industria automotriz estadounidense. La empresa planea destinar otros 20,000 millones de dólares de sus ganancias a Wall Street, mientras decenas de miles de trabajadores del sector carecen de seguridad para su jubilación, las plantas operan muy por debajo de su capacidad y la industria automotriz mundial supera a GM. Solo en los últimos cinco años, esta compañía ha gastado 30,000 millones de dólares en recompras de acciones y dividendos, a pesar de que durante nuestras negociaciones de 2023 se quejaron amargamente de los costos. Lo tendremos presente cuando volvamos a la mesa de negociación en 2028.

Seamos claros sobre lo que realmente son las recompras de acciones: se trata de una forma de saqueo masivo legalizado, que transfiere miles de millones de dólares —generados por la clase trabajadora— directamente a inversionistas de Wall Street que jamás han pisado una fábrica.

¿Por qué el 80 por ciento de los trabajadores de GM carece de pensión y de cobertura médica para su jubilación, como lo tuvieron durante medio siglo? Porque alguien en Wall Street está cobrando su pensión bajo la forma de una maldita recompra de acciones. ¿Por qué GM escatima recursos a sus jubilados mientras colma a sus accionistas con miles de millones? Porque esta empresa ha vendido su alma a Wall Street.

¿Quién se beneficia? La mayor parte de las acciones en este país está en manos del 1% más rico. ¿Quién es la mayor accionista individual de GM? La directora ejecutiva, Mary Barra, quien ganó 48 millones de dólares en 2025, lo que supone un aumento del 60 por ciento en un solo año. Además, apenas cinco firmas de Wall Street —como BlackRock y State Street— obtendrán cerca de 7,000 millones de dólares gracias a esta estafa.

El sector corporativo estadounidense está destruyendo este país al saquear el cinturón industrial (“Rust Belt”) para enriquecer a millonarios y multimillonarios en busca de ganancias a corto plazo, mientras nuestras fábricas permanecen vacías y nuestra clase trabajadora se queda cada vez más rezagada. GM no ha construido una sola planta nueva en este país en los últimos 20 años. Cuando GM destina 20 000 millones de dólares a la recompra de sus propias acciones, pero invierte solo la mitad de esa cantidad en fábricas, equipamiento y capacidad productiva, prioriza los beneficios de Wall Street por encima de los trabajadores industriales de Estados Unidos.

Cuando nosotros en la UAW negociamos nuestro contrato con GM en 2023, tanto los medios de comunicación como la empresa actuaron como si el hecho de que los trabajadores del sector automotriz recibieran un aumento salarial fuera el fin del mundo. Sin embargo, siempre hay decenas de miles de millones de dólares disponibles para Wall Street. Por eso, cuando volvamos a la mesa de negociación con GM en 2028, quiero que el público estadounidense, los políticos de este país y los trabajadores del sector automotriz recuerden este día. Si hay 20,000 millones de dólares para Wall Street, pueden estar seguros de que también existe la parte que le corresponde a la clase trabajadora.

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In Another Win for Southern Workers, UAW Members at Ultium in Tennessee Ratify Local Agreement

Spring Hill, TN — Nearly 1,000 UAW members at Local 1853 overwhelmingly voted to ratify their first local agreement with Ultium, a joint venture of General Motors and LG Energy Solution. The local agreement builds on the successes of the national contract that Ultium workers joined as a major win of the 2023 Stand Up Strike.

A majority of workers Ultium Spring Hill signed cards last September and immediately launched their contract campaign, building on the agreement that is rapidly becoming the cornerstone for battery plants across the nation.

“When we voted to join UAW, I knew it would be a big deal. Now, I don’t have to worry about losing my job out of nowhere or going broke from a medical emergency,” said Derrick Kinzer at Spring Hill and bargaining team member. “We do the hard, dangerous work of building EV batteries, and now we’ve got a union contract that guarantees our future.”

“Building EV batteries is just as risky as working with combustion engines, and these workers deserve the best wages, health care and safety protections as they have in the Big Three,” said UAW Region 8 Director Tim Smith. “Ultium workers stood strong and won their fight. Now it’s time for Volkswagen—an even bigger, richer company—to quit dragging its feet and do right by its workers in Chattanooga with fair pay and fully paid health insurance.”

“We now have our health care costs covered, just like General Motors workers,” said Barry Hope, a battery worker at Spring Hill and bargaining team member. “I’m just like any other union autoworker—and now my benefits are guaranteed in writing, ensuring financial security for my family and access to necessary care when we need it most.”

Smith added, “Ultium workers are setting the bar for Southern workers and charting a brighter future. From Georgia to Kentucky to Texas, folks in these new EV plants know they deserve fair pay and benefits, just like union workers before them. And you can bet the UAW is going to stand with them to make sure they get their fair share and a collective voice on the job.”

More than 5,000 Tennessee autoworkers have joined the UAW in the last year.

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GM Department Update from UAW Vice President Booth

UAW GM members,

I hope the new year finds you well. As we continue building a more militant, fighting, and transparent union, I plan to provide regular updates in 2025 on the activities of the GM Department.

Record Profit Sharing

In January, GM announced it will deliver a record profit-sharing payout of $14,500 to eligible workers on February 28, 2025. I want to congratulate the membership on this news. As always, you performed beyond all expectations. Your skillfulness made the company’s profit possible.

There have been questions regarding temporary workers’ eligibility to receive the profit-sharing payout, and I would like to clarify where things stand. Per our 2023 collective bargaining agreement, all temporary workers, both full-time and part-time, are eligible for profit-sharing. This is the first time temporary workers at the Big Three have been eligible for the profit-sharing plan since its inception. 

Raising the Standard for Our Members at GM Sanitation

Your UAW GM Department has contracts with ten sanitation companies that service our worksites, and I’m happy to share that we just locked in the final one with Hydrochem.

We’ve made great progress in winning economic justice for our members at these sanitation companies in recent years, and the agreement with Hydrochem is no different. By the end of the new contract, our wage floor across our UAW-represented sites will be raised from less than $18 an hour to more than $26 per hour. Some sanitation workers will make as much as $40-plus an hour by the end of the agreement. Thanks to our members’ solidarity and our negotiators’ resilience, we’re raising the bar for all GM sanitation workers.

Second Round of SAP Successfully Completed

In January, we successfully concluded the second round of the Special Attrition Program (SAP). Congratulations to these members on a well-earned retirement. I want to shout out our members who walked the picket lines for six weeks during our Stand Up Strike in 2023 so that we could win hard-fought gains like this improved SAP. It’s important to note that we don’t anticipate another SAP opportunity until 2026.

Job Security

Your UAW GM Department leadership understands that these are uncertain times: Federal policies are changing and tariffs may affect our industry. Under our 2023 agreement, GM agreed to build electric vehicles at several of our facilities, including Fairfax Assembly, where many UAW members are temporarily laid off while the plant retools.  Our department regularly meets with GM and is requesting information from the company about its plans at Fairfax and other potentially affected plants. We will keep your local leadership updated as more information becomes available. Enforcing our contract and protecting our jobs is my highest priority.

In solidarity,
Mike Booth
Vice President and Director

UAW General Motors Department

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To Commemorate “White Shirt Day,” UAW Challenges Michigan Lawmakers to Commit to a Working-Class Agenda, Reject Corporate Influence

FLINT – Today, the UAW is challenging Michigan state politicians to join union members in the annual commemoration of “White Shirt Day.” This annual tradition honors the legacy and courage of the auto workers who organized the 1937 Flint Sit-Down Strike – whose victory reshaped the future of the working class. 

In a letter distributed to lawmakers in Lansing, the UAW encouraged their participation in White Shirt Day’s time-honored practice of wearing a white shirt on February 11. The white shirts send a message that the workers who build the cars deserve the same respect and dignity as those in corporate offices. 

A PDF of the letter can be accessed and downloaded here: 

DOWNLOAD LETTER

The UAW is taking participation in White Shirt Day as more than a symbolic gesture. By wearing a white shirt on February 11, lawmakers aren’t just making a statement – they’re committing to action on priorities laid out in the notice, including to:  

  • Guarantee strong wages and labor protections for every worker to earn a fair living. 
  • Strengthen healthcare affordability, access to critical and preventative medical care. 
  • Enhance retirement security to give workers comfort of one day retiring with dignity. 
  • Promote a healthier work-life balance so workers have time to tend to their real lives. 
  • Hold corporations accountable when they take tax breaks but leave workers behind. 
  • Combat divide-and-conquer tactics seeking to pit communities against one another. 

“For 44 days, General Motors workers endured the full-throated force of corporate greed,” the letter reads. “They faced constant threats to their lives and families and even real violence. But these autoworkers had no choice but to endure – their entire livelihoods were at stake. 

“The GM workers recognized 88 years ago that their strongest tool to leverage against even the most formidable of forces was solidarity. With a united rank-and-file, workers held the line – until they won.” 

The letter ends with a direct call-to-action from the UAW to Michigan legislators: “Michigan’s over 350,000 active and retired UAW members are ready to fight alongside elected officials who fight for the working class. Now is the time to show them whose side you’re on.” 

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Statement from UAW Vice President Mike Booth on Update of the GM Special Attrition Program (SAP)

As you may know, our 2023 contract provides multiple opportunities for retiring pension-eligible GM workers to receive a $50,000 benefit. This benefit is called the Special Attrition Program, or SAP. We were successful in negotiating this benefit because of the solidarity of our members standing strong while we were at the bargaining table. We all owe a debt of gratitude to those retiring members who came before us.  

The second round of SAP is currently open. Everyone who is retirement eligible as of March 31, 2025 is eligible for this round of SAP. The application window opened on Thursday November 22, 2024 and closes on January 5, 2025 at 11:59 PM EST. 

We continue to improve the SAP. In our first round, all 1,412 GM production workers who signed up received the benefit. However, of the 545 skilled trades workers who expressed interest in taking the SAP, only 142 were eligible in the first window. Our Skilled Trades members wanted more, and we delivered. In this round, anyone who is eligible and applies will receive the benefit, including all skilled trades and production workers. 

There is some important information that I want everyone considering the SAP to keep in mind. This is the only SAP opportunity we anticipate for 2025 and do not expect another round of SAP until 2026, at the earliest. Applications for SAP are made online through Workday. You can apply for SAP and withdraw your application multiple times during the application window. However, if you have not withdrawn your decision by January 5th at 11:59pm, you will be required to retire. Once the window closes, your decision is final. If you have any questions about the SAP benefit, please direct them to your Local Union Bargaining Committee. 

I want to thank our negotiating team for their work on this round of SAP and also our membership for securing such a strong contract. Our SAP at GM is unique because it has multiple rounds, with more members becoming eligible at each round.  This means far more GM workers will be eligible to receive the $50,000 SAP. The size, scope, and timing of each phase of the SAP has to be negotiated. Our team is getting results.  

In solidarity,

UAW Vice President Mike Booth 

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