Wednesday was election day for members of United Auto Workers Local 686 who were asked to cast their “yes” or “no” vote to ratify UAW’s proposed contract with General Motors.
Reactions were mixed among voters who went to the union hall on Walnut Street after work Wednesday afternoon.
One voter, who didn’t want to share his name, said he started working at GM’s Lockport Component Holdings plant four years ago and he’s excited by the prospect of wages going up.
For 26-year employee Matt McKee, the deal is bittersweet. The “tier” system, which treats employees of assembly facilities and component plants differently, is being modified but not eliminated. Workers’ pay will be equal among facilities, but in the proposed contract, retirement benefits including health insurance and pension are still not in the cards for workers at component plants.
“I do think it’s a good deal,” McKee said. “I do want my pension, but Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
Local 686 president Mike Delucas described the end of unequal pay as “life changing” for GM workers in Lockport.
As for retirement benefits for component plant workers, Delucas said, GM is pledging a 10% non-matching contribution to their 401K plans. On average, that’s $8,600 a year.
McKee sees that young workers will have everything his generation had at the beginning of their careers, before benefits were conceded in negotiations in 2008.
“We’ll have good wages, extra week of vacation, everything,” he said.
McKee and Delucas both predicted the deal will be ratified nationally.