UAW members ratify deal at Mich. Faurecia plant

UAW members at a Faurecia auto parts plant in Saline, Mich., ratified a new four-year labor contract Thursday that calls for significant wage hikes and a $2,500 signing bonus, the union said.

A UAW spokesperson said Thursday that 83 percent of production workers voted to ratify the deal, along with 93 percent of the factory's skilled trades workers.

According to contract highlights given to workers by the union this week, hourly pay for operators with less than a year of experience would rise from $13 to $13.50 today to $20.25 by May 1, 2023.

Process technicians making $22 hourly would receive an immediate $1.25-an-hour raise and would be paid $24.75 hourly by May 2023. Skilled-trades workers will see their hourly wage rise from $32 to $36.

The new wages would be paid retroactively to June 1, with vacation time rollover and no increase in workers' health care costs.

“We are extremely pleased with the outcome and look forward to business as usual with our UAW partners,” said Faurecia spokeswoman Misty Matthews.

The plant employs about 1,900 UAW members represented by UAW Local 892 and supplies interior parts to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford Motor Co. and Tesla Inc. A tentative labor agreement was reached last week after a brief strike.

The pact also creates a full-time union health and safety representative. The signing bonus calls for a $1,500 payment upon ratification and $1,000 in the first full pay period of January.

The Saline plant was originally built by Ford in 1966 and has undergone several ownership changes, most recently to Faurecia in 2012.

Faurecia, headquartered in Nanterre, France, ranks No. 9 on the Automotive News list of the top 100 global suppliers with worldwide sales to automakers of $20.67 billion in 2018.