UAW, Ultium Cells agree on wage increases at Ohio battery plant
Kalea HallUltium Cells LLC and the United Auto Workers have reached a tentative agreement to give raises of more than 20% to workers at Ultium's battery plant Warren, Ohio, according to a company statement.
The agreement, which will have to be ratified by the UAW members at Ultium, would become effective Aug. 28. It comes as the two parties continue to negotiate an inaugural contract for the Ultium workers. Ultium is a joint venture between General Motors Co. and LG Energy Solution.
"Providing this wage increase is the right thing to do for our team members, all of whom contribute so much to Ultium Cells’ growth and success," Ultium said in a statement. "This is just a first step. We continue to bargain in good faith with the UAW to reach a comprehensive contract for our employees, including a final wage scale."
Ultium said the interim wage increase will be retroactive, with active current hourly employees receiving back pay for every hour worked since Dec. 23, 2022. Any current employees who have worked at the company since Dec. 23 can receive payment of $3,000 to $7,000, based on hours worked, Ultium said.
The UAW said in a statement that the "breakthrough agreement" will raise wages by $3 to $4 an hour, adding it will continue to bargain for more wage increases.
“After months of public pressure and worker organizing, Ultium was forced to take a first step towards economic justice for the workers who are powering GM’s electric vehicle future,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement. “When we fight hard, we can win big, and we aren’t done fighting for standard-setting wages and benefits at Ultium and beyond.”
Ultium has come under fire for what the union calls "high risk and low pay" jobs at the Warren plant. The union in July released a white paper detailing health and safety issues at the plant, noting workers start at $16.50 per hour and could make up to $20 per hour after seven years.
Under the agreement, production operators would start at $20 and go up to $21 after six months or 1,000 hours worked, according to a document obtained by The Detroit News.
In a statement, UAW Local 1112 Shop Chairman Josh Ayers, who represents Ultium workers, said: “This interim wage increase is only the first step as we progress towards a fair and comprehensive contract for the dedicated UAW Local 1112 Membership as a result of the bargaining process. The UAW Local 1112 members working at Ultium Cells deserve this increase for being essential in getting the plant up and running."
Ayers added that "the committee is still hard at work in bargaining working conditions, health and safety, seniority rights, addressing other issues raised by the membership and future wage increases throughout the term of this agreement.”
Ultium workers in the UAW will vote on the agreement through Sunday. According to Ultium, the plant employs 1,095 hourly workers.
The Warren plant is the first of three Ultium Cells facilities planned and the first JV battery plant organized by the UAW. Workers at the Ultium plant overwhelmingly voted in favor of organizing with the UAW in December 2022 with their biggest concerns being wage increases and health/safety issues at the plant.
An Ultium Cells plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, will open later this year. A third plant is under construction in Delta Township near Lansing and will open in 2024. GM is also planning a joint-venture battery plant with Samsung SDI in New Carlisle, Indiana. That facility is slated to open in 2026.
Fain, at a rally Sunday in Macomb County, addressed the situation at the Ohio Ultium plant.
"We want our standards in this transition to EV," he said during the event at UAW Region 1 headquarters. "If we don't get these standards ... everyone's going to lose. This whole country's gonna lose. It's imperative that we have good labor standards especially when our tax dollars are financing that."
X (formerly Twitter): @bykaleahall