Our own Phil Wilson commented in an article for The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) about the recent deals between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, predicting that the successful contracts will lead to increased union organizing efforts in 2024.
“Like most strike stories, you have to dig deeper than the headlines to really understand the reality of what these strikes have delivered,” said Phillip Wilson, president and general counsel with Labor Relations Institute in Broken Arrow, Okla.
For example, the automakers had agreed to 5 percent per year pay increases over four years before the strike, he said. The 25 percent pay increase “is basically just another 5 percent pay increase in the fifth year of the agreement,” Wilson said.
Companies are offering record wage increases not due to union pressure but mostly due to labor market pressure impacting all industries, according to Wilson.
