Autoworkers’ Union Reaches Deal with GM to End Strike

2023-10-31 11:59:55来源：网络

Autoworkers’ Union Reaches Deal with GM to End Strike

汽车工人工会与通用汽车达成协议结束罢工

　　By Hai Do

　　30 October 2023

　　The United Auto Workers (UAW) reached a tentative agreement with General Motors (GM) on Monday. The agreement once approved by UAW members will end the six-week work stoppage affecting the three biggest U.S. carmakers.

　　The Associated Press reported that GM chief Mary Barra met with UAW leaders over the weekend and Monday morning to close the deal. The agreement follows similar deals the labor union reached in the last few days with Ford and Stellantis, the maker of Chrysler and Jeep.

　　All three companies agreed to raise pay by 25 percent for top workers. People who are familiar with the agreement say that additional cost of living adjustments would bring their total pay increases to over 30 percent. At Stellantis, top workers now make around $31 an hour. Under the new deal, that will go up to more than $42 an hour.

　　FILE - UAW members strike outside General Motors' assembly plant, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

　　Nearly 50,000 auto workers out of nearly 150,000 union members at the three automakers joined the strike that began on September 15.

　　The deals are seen as a victory for workers who had given up raises following the 2008 financial crisis to help the companies. UAW leaders argued that their contract fight was part of a much larger movement to make up for years of economic setbacks for American workers.

　　"This is more than an auto industry story; it is a signal to the entire country that unionized workers can demand and get big wage increases," said Patrick Anderson of the Anderson Economic Group.

　　Biden says, "...great!"

　　U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday praised the tentative agreement. "I think it's great," he said.

　　Biden had earlier joined striking workers at a General Motors parts center west of Detroit, Michigan. Biden's action represented the strongest-ever presidential support for striking workers in a labor dispute.

　　Aides to Biden have been worried about a lengthy auto strike and drop in production. They were concerned that it would damage both the U.S. economy and the Democratic president's chances of re-election in 2024.

　　The three automakers argued that the UAW's demands would greatly raise costs and put them in competition with non-union carmakers like America's Tesla and Japan's Toyota.

　　The UAW said before the GM announcement that it wants to expand negotiations to other non-union carmakers in 2028.

　　University of Michigan professor Erik Gordon observed that the strike results would likely lead non-union carmakers to raise pay and do "everything they can to keep the UAW out."

　　I'm Jill Robbins.

　　Hai Do adapted this report for VOA Learning English from Associated Press and Reuters sources.

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　　海道

　　2023年10月30日

　　UAW汽车工人联合会达成了一项协议不确定的周一与通用汽车(GM)达成协议。该协议一旦获得UAW成员的批准，将结束影响美国三大汽车制造商的为期六周的罢工。

　　美联社报道称，通用汽车首席执行官玛丽·巴拉在周末和周一上午会见了UAW领导人，以达成协议。此前，工会在过去几天与福特和克莱斯勒和吉普的制造商Stellantis达成了类似的协议。

　　三家公司都同意给高级员工加薪25%。熟悉该协议的人士表示，额外的生活费调整会使他们的总工资增长超过30%。在Stellantis，顶级员工现在的时薪约为31美元。根据新的协议，这将提高到每小时42美元以上。

　　2023年10月24日星期二，UAW成员在得克萨斯州阿灵顿的通用汽车装配厂外罢工。(美联社图片/胡里奥·科尔特斯)

　　三家汽车制造商近15万名工会成员中的近5万名汽车工人加入了9月15日开始的罢工。

　　这些协议被视为2008年金融危机后放弃加薪以帮助公司的员工的胜利。UAW领导人认为，他们的合同斗争是一个更大的运动的一部分，以弥补美国工人多年的经济挫折。

　　“这不仅仅是一个汽车业的故事；这是一个信号安德森经济集团的帕特里克·安德森说:“工会工人可以要求并获得大幅加薪。