UAW-Represented Workers At The General Motors Components Holding Group LLC Plant In Lockport Will Be Getting A Raise
Talks On A New Contract Had Stalled After The UAW Learned White Collar Workers At The Lockport Plant Were Getting Raises Of 3% To 10% - While Blue Collar Workers Were Being By-Passed
(LOCKPORT) - Union-represented workers at the General Motors (GM) Components Holding Group LLC plant in Lockport - formerly known as Delphi Automotive Systems - will indeed be receiving a promised 3.75% raise that had been previously placed in limbo by GM's filing for bankruptcy last year, United Auto Workers (UAW) Amalgamated Local 686 President Paul Entwistle tells WNYLaborToday.com.
The UAW represents 1,100 workers at the Lockport plant. Their raises had been placed in jeopardy after GM filed for bankruptcy last year as the Federal Government stepped forward to bail out the Big Three automaker. Because of the bankruptcy filing, GM Components Holding Group officials had relayed to the UAW it would have to "take away the raises" targeted for its Union workforce because of its dire economic situation at the time, Local 686 President Entwistle said.
Despite that fact, when it was made known just several weeks ago that white collar workers at GM Components Holding Group in Lockport were to receive annual raises of anywhere from 3% to 10%, while company representatives sat at the bargaining table seeking concessions from the UAW, negotiations on a new contract "stalled," according to Entwistle.
As a result, talks were going nowhere until the GM Components Holding Group did an about face and agreed to make good on the promised raises. The current UAW contract at the GM Components Holding Group LLC plant in Lockport expires in September 2011.
"This raise was promised to UAW members back in 2007 and our members were outraged," Entwistle told WNYLaborToday.com this afternoon.
"Here we are, working towards a new agreement and we get word their (white collar workers) were getting a raise (while the UAW-represented workforce was not). But we've finally got notice that we will be getting the (promised) raise. A lot of credit goes to our Shop Committee. They're doing a very good job in negotiations" with the company, he said.
Hourly raises for UAW-represented workers at the plant range from 55 cents to 85 cents an hour for those involved in the manufacturing process, while skilled trades represented by the Union will see a $1.35-an-hour raise, Entwistle said.
