DETROIT — Leaders of the United Automobile Workers approved a tentative four-year deal with General Motors that includes a more lucrative signing bonus than what Fiat Chrysler workers were given, and $1.9 billion in new investments that will retain or create 3,300 jobs at a dozen G.M. sites.þþWages will be the same as in the Fiat Chrysler contract, which was ratified last week. Entry-level G.M. workers would, over as many as eight years, achieve wage parity with their veteran counterparts. Senior workers would get raises increasing their hourly pay to about $29 an hour.þþIt is unclear when hourly workers will begin voting on the contract, which covers more than 52,000 employees. The union said it wanted employees to have enough time to familiarize themselves with the agreement.þþ“The biggest challenge for your bargaining committee was to balance the competing demand of higher wages and job security,” the union’s president, Dennis Williams, said in a statement.þþUpon ratification, entry-level workers would shift immediately to the health care plan that senior hourly workers receive, including full dental and vision coverage.þþVeteran and entry-level employees would receive $8,000 signing bonuses. The bonus is double the amount received by Fiat Chrysler workers in their contract, and $3,000 more than the amount G.M. workers got in the 2011 contract.þþIn addition, some temporary workers would get a lump-sum payment of $2,000. The agreement also calls for a $60,000 bonus for up to 4,000 eligible production employees who agree to retire next year. Mr. Williams said there would be no increase in the number of temporary workers.þþSome workers will get $500 tied to quality goals to be paid annually through the end of the contract.þþThe agreement will also enable G.M. workers who transferred to other plants around the time the company was going through bankruptcy to return to their original factories if there are openings, said Cindy Estrada, a union vice president.þþThe union sought a richer contract with General Motors because the manufacturer is larger and more profitable than Fiat Chrysler. G.M. recently said it earned a pretax profit of $8.3 billion in North America in the first nine months of this year.þþIf the contract is approved, the U.A.W. will turn to Ford Motor to round out negotiations with Detroit’s automakers.þþMr. Williams said he would meet Thursday with the U.A.W.-Ford president, James Settles Jr., to discuss looming negotiations at Ford. Bargaining with all three manufacturers began in July.þ
Source: NY Times
