UAW members ratify new contract with Chrysler owner Stellantis

DETROIT – United Auto Workers members at Chrysler owner Stellantis have ratified a new labor contract following a historically contentious round of bargaining between the union and company, according to preliminary results posted Friday by the union.

The deal is the second this week for the Detroit automakers. A pact with General Motors received 54.7% support from UAW-GM members who voted, according to preliminary results. UAW members with Ford Motor are on pace to also ratify their agreement, but are continuing to vote Friday.

A majority of Stellantis facilities overwhelmingly approved the deal, which, like GM and Ford, includes at least 25% wage increases. It also includes the reopening of an Illinois plant that had been indefinitely idled.

According to the UAW’s vote tracker, the deal was supported by 68.4% of the more than 26,000 hourly autoworkers at Stellantis who voted. There were still a few smaller facilities left to finalize voting, but there aren’t enough employees at those locations to offset the roughly 9,650-vote margin.

The Stellantis deal received notable objection at the automaker’s Jeep plants in Toledo, Ohio, with 55% of workers there opposing the deal. Other major assembly plants overwhelmingly supported the pact.

Both the UAW and Stellantis declined to comment on the results until they’ve been finalized.

The contract ratifications come weeks after the automakers and the union reached tentative deals, ending roughly six weeks of targeted strikes by the UAW.

The agreements are record-setting for the union, which was far more confrontational and strategic during the talks than in recent history.

The union initiated negotiations with all three automakers at once, breaking from a recent pattern of bargaining with each automaker individually, selecting a lead company to…