UAW Members at GM and Delphi Ratify New Contracts

DETROIT, Oct. 6, 2003 -- UAW members have voted to ratify new four-year collective bargaining agreements with General Motors and Delphi.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger commended the membership and local union leadership for their support. "We accomplished our major bargaining goals, and are pleased that the membership expressed confidence in those efforts," Gettelfinger said.

UAW Vice President Richard Shoemaker, who heads the union's UAW GM Department, praised the work of the National Negotiating Committee, led by co-chairs Mark Hawkins of UAW GM Local 598 in Flint, Mich. and Clyde Sims of UAW Delphi Local 913 in Sandusky, Ohio.

"This bargaining committee put forward a tremendous effort to reach fair and equitable agreements in challenging times," Shoemaker said. "Once again the interests of UAW-represented workers at both GM and Delphi were protected."

The new contracts will cover more than 117,000 active workers at GM and more than 30,000 active workers at Delphi, as well as more than 234,000 retirees and 63,000 surviving spouses.

The UAW GM and Delphi contracts follow the same economic pattern as the agreements ratified by UAW members at DaimlerChrysler, Ford and Visteon. Key provisions include a $3,000 signing bonus; a performance bonus in the second year of the contract, a 2 percent raise in the third year and a 3 percent raise in the fourth year.

The contracts do not allow cost shifting of health insurance premiums to UAW GM and Delphi workers. Basic pension benefits and "30-and-out" benefits are enhanced for workers who retire under the new agreement; current retirees will receive an $800 lump-sum payment in each year of the four-year agreement and a $1,000 voucher in the first and third years of the agreement toward the purchase of a new GM vehicle.

Under terms of the new agreements, all UAW-represented former GM employees currently at Delphi maintain the right to "flow back" to GM facilities, and all workers hired at Delphi and GM on or before Oct. 18, 1999, are now covered by the flowback agreement. The UAW Delphi contract mirrors in all respects the UAW GM agreement.

The agreements include several commitments by GM and Delphi that are specific to UAW workers in Delphi facilities.

Delphi agreed to make sufficient capital investments in UAW-represented plants to be competitive and improve product quality. Delphi also committed to allocate new product -- both GM and non-GM -- to UAW-represented facilities.

GM agreed to award approximately $1 billion in new business to UAW- represented Delphi operations as part of its commitment to "look to Delphi first" and assure Delphi's long-term viability. GM also agreed to give the UAW more effective input into sourcing decisions.

The UAW and Delphi also agreed to meet within 90 days of ratification on a supplement to the agreement, which would apply to future new hires at Delphi. The UAW and Delphi will discuss "competitive wage and benefit levels," which refers to wages and benefits that meet those of an appropriate, representative group of UAW-represented employers in the U.S. automotive and truck component industry. In the event the parties are unable to agree on the terms of such an agreement, the UAW Delphi agreement would remain in effect without modification.

Delphi also agreed to the principle of "equivalence of sacrifice" when establishing compensation levels for management, requiring that top management take the lead by accepting compensation and benefit reductions at least as large in percentage terms as those sustained by new hires.

GM made a commitment to hire 2,250 new skilled-trades apprentices and Delphi, 750, over the term of the agreement.