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LORDSTOWN -- United Auto Workers and Ultium Cells have come to a tentative agreement that gives raises worth 25% on average to hourly union workers at the company's EV battery-cell factory in Lordstown.
UAW Local 1112 members must still ratify the proposal in voting expected to conclude Sunday. The agreement would be effective Monday.
"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," a news release states. "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."
UAW and Ultium Cells have been negotiating a first contract since January following an overwhelming 710-16 vote to join the UAW in December. Ultium Cells is a joint venture between General Motors and South Korea's LG Energy Solution to mass produce battery cells for electric vehicles.
The wage proposal calls for the increase to be retroactive to Dec. 23, which is when the union was recognized. Any employee who has worked since then can receive a payment of $3,000 to $7,000 based on hours worked, the release states.
The retroactive amount would be paid in a single payment in mid-September, Thomas Gallagher, vice president of operations, said Thursday.
Employees hired after Jan. 1 who started at $16.50 per hour are now a $20 per hour, once they were six months or 1,000 hours, whichever comes first; and employees with more are at $21 per hour, according to new information provided by United Auto Workers Local 1112.
At that starting wage, the average 25 % increase would push the hourly rate to $20.62 per hour.
The increase is not the result of calls by the UAW and some U.S. lawmakers, including U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who have been critical of the wages, to fold employees at Ultium Cells into a national agreement between UAW and GM, Gallagher said.
"We're enthusiastic about getting a first agreement, and we think having an interim wage increase really brings wages to the front of what we are trying to do, and it will help enable us to move on a collaborative basis toward a final agreement," Gallagher said.
Still, Brown was enthusiastic: "Today's announcement means more money in Lordstown workers' pockets, and is a step in the right direction toward securing a full union contract that will serve as the gold standard for the entire EV industry," he said in a statement.
"The local union views this as an important issue -- wages, and the local management team wanted to take efforts to attempt to at least do something in the interim ahead of a final collective bargaining agreement," Gallagher said.
Josh Ayers, Local 1112 chairman, said in the release that members of the local at Ultium Cells "deserve this increase for being essential in getting the plant up and running."
"While an entire 'first' agreement is being negotiated, 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," he said in the release.
Said plant Director Kareem Maine, the agreement is a "significant and meaningful step" in the negotiations with the UAW toward a comprehensive contract.
"Our team members are at the core of our business, and we're proud to be able to reach an interim agreement for wage increases that prioritizes our incredible workforce," Maine said in the release.