THREE RIVERS, MICH. – Members of United Auto Workers Local 2093 voted overwhelmingly on Sunday to ratify a new four-year agreement with American Axle, securing workers’ demands for a wage increase of $30 per hour by 2030.
UAW members voted 80% in favor of the new contract, which provides employees of the Three Rivers plant a more than 36% wage increase over the life of the agreement, among other gains.
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Nearly 1,000 workers at the Tier 1 parts supplier for General Motors went on strike for 10 days after failing to come to terms with their employer. UAW President Shawn Fain paid a visit to Three Rivers on June 1 to announce the strike alongside Local 2093 members, and joined members in announcing that a tentative deal was reached June 10.
“UAW Local 2093 showed one thing to be truer than ever: strikes work,” Fain said in a news release after the deal was ratified. “And American Axle proved something else to be as true as we’ve always known: the industry can afford our demands. From the time we walked off ten days ago to this tentative agreement, the company more than doubled the money on the table.”
Union members cited “major concessions” in the form of wage cuts as the reason for the strike, noting that employees were forced to accept pay cuts in 2008 to save the facility from closure. At the time, wages were cut nearly in half from $29 an hour to $14.50 an hour, with wages topping out at $22 an hour under the previous contract.
Beyond wage increases, the new contract secures more paid days off for workers without increasing their current healthcare costs — something UAW leaders say the company previously insisted couldn’t be done.
“Despite what the company pushed for, we would not accept any concessions from this agreement,” said UAW Local 2093 Bargaining Chair Josh Jager on Wednesday. “This contract ensures there will be no healthcare premium cost increases for the life of the deal. What you pay today is what you’ll pay for the next four years.”
Workers returned to work at 6 a.m. Monday morning.