GM's EV battery joint venture Ultium negotiating for wage boost at Ohio plant

Ultium LLC, the electric-vehicle joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution, is working on a deal to raise wages at its Ohio battery plant, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

The two sides are close to a deal that would give workers an interim pay increase to tide them over while management and the UAW  negotiate the plant's first contract, the people said. The deal would raise pay from a starting wage of $15.50 an hour to more than $20 and would give back pay to tenured employees.

A spokesperson for Ultium declined to comment.

Ultium and the UAW are in the midst of negotiating a labor deal for the plant, where workers voted to join the union in December.

Pay has been one of the biggest issues at the battery plant, which is supplying GM EVs such as the Cadillac Lyriq crossover and the 9,000-pound electric Hummer pickup. The Ultium workers make half the top wage at GM’s assembly plants.

That has also made Ultium a focal point for new UAW President Shawn Fain in this fall’s contract talks with Detroit’s carmakers. The UAW plans to organize factories making EV parts and Fain has said that raising wages at battery plants will be a top priority as contract talks heat up.

At the current wages, “there is terrible turnover,” Fain said in a recent interview. “There are people trying to hold out as long as they can but they came in and told our bargaining team they can’t wait any longer.”

If the two sides finalize the pay raise, there could be a second raise coming in the new agreement for the plant’s workers this fall, the people said.