UAW Workers Overwhelming Approve FCA Contract

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United Auto Workers members have overwhelmingly voted to ratify a new four-year labor contract with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

The pact raises for all 40,0000 UAW workers at the automaker’s North American plants, and represents a $5.3 billion by the company, The Detroit News reports. The “yes” vote was 77 percent, the union said Thursday, and comes three weeks after workers threatened to walk off the job after rejecting a previous offer by a two-to-one margin.

“I think the second version of the tentative agreement addressed many of the workers’ concerns and that’s evident in their strong ratification,” Kristin Dziczek, director of the industry and labor group at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, told the newspaper. “There was a clearer path to top tier wages for the current second-tier workers.”

Among the major changes is a phase out of a two-tier pay system, a new formula to figure profit-sharing and a bigger ratification bonus for veteran employees of FCA’s North American assembly plants.

Here’s how the various locals voted:

• UAW Local 7, Jefferson North Assembly: 86 percent and 66 percent of skilled workers voted in favor of the pact.
• UAW Local 12, Toledo Assembly Complex: 55 percent of production and 52 of skilled workers voted in favor of the pact.
• UAW Local 140, Warren Truck: 70 percent of workers voted in favor of the pact.
• UAW Local 372, Trenton Engine: 73 percent of production and 70 of skilled trades workers voted in favor of the pact.
• UAW Local 685, representing several plants in Indiana: 55 percent of production and 52 of skilled workers voted in favor of the pact (according to media reports).
• UAW Local 723, Dundee Engine: 91 percent of production and 85 percent of skilled workers voted in favor of the pact.
• UAW Local 869, Warren Stamping: 82 percent of production and 66 percent of skilled trades workers voted in favor of the pact.
• UAW Local 1166, Kokomo Casting: 89 percent of production and 90 percent of skilled trades workers voted in favor of the pact.
• UAW Local 1264, Sterling Stamping: 84 percent of production and 64 percent of skilled trades workers voted in favor of the pact.
• UAW Local 1268, Belvidere Assembly: 83 percent of production and 62 percent of skilled trades workers voted in favor of the pact.
• UAW Local 1435, Toledo Machining: 63 percent of production and skilled trades workers, 100 percent of office and clerical workers, and 95 percent voted in favor of the pact.
• UAW Local 1700, Toledo Assembly Complex: 78 percent of production and 66 of skilled workers voted in favor of the pact.

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