UAW ratifies deal with GM after late voting support

Enough hourly workers at General Motors have voted to ratify the UAW's tentative contract agreement with the automaker.

Overwhelming support from workers at parts depots and a joint-venture battery plant who will get the largest raises made up for "no" votes from 53 percent of employees at assembly, metal and propulsion plants.

The agreement passed by a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent, winning by nearly 3,300 votes out of more than 35,000 cast, according to a count posted by the UAW.

The UAW declined to immediately comment Thursday.

GM declined to comment until the union declares that the deal has been approved.

The deal received support from about 82 percent of workers at parts plants and distribution centers as well as 96 percent at the Ultium Cells battery plant in Ohio.

The agreement was in doubt earlier in the week after workers at seven of the company's 11 U.S. assembly plants rejected it. But support from 61 percent of workers at Arlington Assembly in Texas prevented the deal's failure.

In contrast to the close voting at GM, the UAW's deals with Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis are easily headed toward ratification. Both are passing by roughly 2-to-1 margins.

The GM agreement, which runs through April 2028, includes roughly $2 billion in new investment for future electric vehicle and parts production at three plants, brings employees at GM's joint-venture battery plants under the national UAW agreement and bumps wages and retirement contributions for its U.S. hourly work force. With the restoration of a cost-of-living adjustment, top wages would rise from about $32 per hour today to more than $42 by the end of the deal, and new hires would get to that level in three years instead of eight.

Temporary workers with at least 90 days on the job will see their wages rise between 51 and 115 percent at ratification as they are converted to full-time employees with seniority, the union has said.

This story will be updated.