TOM KRISHER, Associated Press
Picketers strike outside of the General Motors assembly plant, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, in Arlington, Texas. The United Auto Workers union is turning up the heat on General Motors as 5,000 workers walked off their jobs at the highly profitable SUV factory. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers union said Wednesday it has reached a tentative contract agreement with Ford that could be a breakthrough toward ending the nearly 6-week-old strikes against Detroit automakers.
The four-year deal, which still has to be approved by 57,000 union members at the company, could bring a close to the union’s series of strikes at targeted factories run by Ford, General Motors and Jeep maker Stellantis.
The Ford deal could set the pattern for agreements with the other two automakers, although no other agreements were announced.
The union called on all workers at Ford to return to their jobs and said that will put pressure on GM and Stellantis to bargain.
“We told Ford to pony up, and they did,” President Shawn Fain said in a video address to members. “We won things no one thought possible.” He added that Ford put 50% more money on the table than it did before the strike started on Sept. 15.
Vice President Chuck Browning, the chief negotiator with Ford, said workers will get a 25% general wage increase, plus cost of living raises that will put the pay increase over 30%, to above $40 per hour.
The Ford deal could set the pattern for agreements with the other two automakers.
Previously Ford, Stellantis and General Motors had all offered 23% pay increases.
Typically, during past auto strikes, a UAW deal with one automaker has led the other companies to match it with their own settlements.
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