UAW escalates GM strike after reaching tentative agreement with Stellantis

The UAW on Saturday escalated its strike against General Motors to include workers in Spring Hill, Tenn., where the automaker builds the GMC Acadia and Cadillac Lyriq.

A source familiar with the GM-UAW talks said negotiations would continue Sunday.

Earlier Saturday, the UAW reached a tentative contract agreement with Stellantis, and it appeared a deal was nearing with GM. The union reached terms with Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday.

UAW Local 1853, which represents workers at GM's Spring Hill Assembly plant and other facilities, posted on Facebook that it was on strike as of 5 p.m. Central time. "Local 1853 has got the call — STAND UP," the local wrote.

A UAW spokesman, asked to confirm that Spring Hill workers had been called on to strike, responded only with a "thumbs up" icon. About an hour before Local 1853 announced it was on strike, UAW President Shawn Fain cryptically posted on X, the platform formerly called Twitter: "Let's go Tennessee."

“We are disappointed by the UAW’s action in light of the progress we have made," GM said in a statement. "We have continued to bargain in good faith with the UAW, and our goal remains to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.”

In a statement to Reuters, Fain said, "We are disappointed by GM's unnecessary and irresponsible refusal to come to a fair agreement."

About 3,900 people work at GM's Spring Hill assembly and propulsion plants, according to the automaker's website. A video posted by the president of Local 1853 indicated that the propulsion side of the complex had joined the strike but it wasn’t clear whether assembly employees had done so. GM confirmed there was production at Spring Hill’s propulsion site on Saturday.
 

The addition of Spring Hill comes four days after the UAW expanded the strike to include 5,000 GM workers who build highly profitable full-size SUVs in Arlington, Texas. Two other assembly plants in Wentzville, Mo., and Lansing, Mich., have been on strike since September, as have 18 parts distribution centers.

The UAW reached a tentative contract agreement earlier Saturday with Stellantis, and it appeared a deal was nearing with GM. The union reached terms with Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday.

If ratified, Ford’s deal will give raises totaling 25 percent over the next four years, reinstate cost-of-living adjustments and provide top wages to new hires after three years, among other benefits. Stellantis matched the 25 percent wage increases, agreed to reopen its idled Belvidere Assembly plant and committed to $19 billion in new U.S. investments.
 
According to sources familiar with the talks, GM has also agreed to 25 percent raises. The two sides remain at odds over non-wage issues, they said.