Big Three Ratify Contract Deals

UAW members have voted to ratify new four-year collective bargaining agreements with General Motors and Delphi on October 06, 2003. This follows ratification votes at Ford and DaimlerChrysler within the past two weeks.

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.”

“This was a very challenging set of negotiations,” said UAW Vice President Gerald Bantom, who heads the union’s UAW Ford Department. “Our bargaining team, with the support of our membership, certainly rose to the challenge. We believe we have laid a solid foundation for the future.”

“Our achievements this year were made possible by the hard work of our bargaining team, with strong support from our rank-and-file members,” said UAW Vice President Nate Gooden, who directs the union’s DaimlerChrysler Department. Gooden commended Larry Williams of Local 140 in Warren, Mich., chair of the UAW DaimlerChrysler National Negotiating Committee, for his leadership during negotiations.