UAW to seek more than 40% wage gains from Detroit 3, sources say

The UAW is seeking from the Detroit 3 automakers a more than 40 percent pay raise for its work force, according to people with knowledge of the union's demands.

The gains would include a 20 percent raise upon ratification, followed by 5 percent raises each year of the four-year deal, according to the people, who requested anonymity discussing the negotiations. Reuters reported the wage gain demands earlier Thursday.

The raises would be significantly more than what the UAW negotiated in 2019: two 3 percent raises plus two 4 percent lump-sum payments over the course of the current four-year deal, which expires Sept. 14.

UAW President Shawn Fain, speaking to Automotive News earlier Thursday, did not specify how much the union was seeking aside from the "double-digit" figure he quoted earlier in the week, but he did say the double-digit gain would come over the course of the contract, not each year of it.

"The companies talk about being competitive all the time," he said in an interview. When union members ask for a raise, "they want to talk about competition. When it comes to [CEOs'] pay and how they're treated, competition doesn't matter.

"The CEOs of the Big 3 over the last four-year agreement have enjoyed a 40 percent increase in pay on average, so I don't think our workers asking for their equitable share, when inflation's gone up almost 20 percent in the last four years, I don't think it's asking a lot for our members to look for their fair share."

In a prepared statement, the UAW echoed Fain's comments: “The CEOs of the Big Three saw their pay rise 40 percent on average over the last four years. We know UAW members are worth the same if not more.”

The union this week delivered its list of economic proposals to Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, which Fain called the "most audacious and ambitious" set of demands in decades, including the restoration of pensions, cost-of-living adjustments and a "working family protection plan" akin to the former jobs bank, which continued to pay workers if they got laid off.

GM, in a statement Thursday, indicated it did not like what the union was proposing.

"The breadth and scope of the Presidential Demands, at face value, would threaten our ability to do what's right for the long-term benefit of the team," the company said. "A fair agreement rewards our employees and also enables GM to maintain our momentum now and into the future."

Fain on Thursday also told Automotive News the union would seek “a 32-hour workweek with 40 hours' worth of pay,” elaborating on comments he made earlier in the week.

He said the truncated workweek could spur the Detroit 3 to hire more union workers.

“I think it will create more jobs, more opportunities for people to get their share in the economy,” he said.