Acting Labor Secretary Lauds UAW-Ultium Agreement

LORDSTOWN, Ohio – Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su on Thursday praised workers at Ultium Cells LLC’s plant for helping craft a landmark collective bargaining agreement that she said would resonate for generations to come.

“The fact that we are now going to celebrate the historic first contract is a testament to what you all have done under tremendous odds,” she told a crowd at United Auto Workers Local 1112’s union hall. 

In November, the UAW and General Motors announced that a new national agreement would also include workers at its electric vehicle battery operations, in this case Ultium Cells in Lordstown, a joint venture between GM and Korea-based LG Energy Solution. In June, workers represented by Local 1112 overwhelmingly voted in favor of a local bargaining agreement with Ultium, the first pact of its kind with an EV battery plant.

Ultium Cells became operational two years ago and has since hired more than 1,700 workers at its $2.3 billion factory here. The company manufactures cells for EV batteries that are now used in GM electric vehicles.

“This is really a demonstration of what is possible,” Su told The Business Journal following the event. “We need to address our climate crisis and to make sure that good union jobs power the industry.”

Su emphasized that the UAW is paving the way to reinvigorate union activity throughout the country. “This is a moment in new worker power, in new union power,” she said. “The UAW is really leading the way and showing what that worker power looks like – how good that is for working people, how good that is for communities.”

It’s especially important for communities such as Lordstown, which many felt would never rebound from the closure of GM’s assembly plant in 2019, Su said.

Su stopped at UAW Local 1112 as part of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Good Jobs Summer Tour, promoting how the policies of the Biden administration has helped encourage job growth and better wages for workers.

Su visited Milwaukee on Wednesday, and her next stop is Detroit – communities that have been hit hard over the years through disinvestment and “lack of attention” to good union jobs, she said.

That’s changed under the Biden administration, she added, pointing to renewed federal investments in the country’s infrastructure and, especially, in the EV industry, which was designed to better manage the transition from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles.

“With all of those investments, we are ensuring that workers are not left out,” Su said. The department also has its own policies it has developed for worker training, advocating that unions have input when it comes to training new employees. “Working people understand the skills that are needed, the best way to deliver them, and how to make sure that workers benefit.”

Dave Green, UAW Region 2B director and a past president of UAW Locals 1112 and 1714, which represented autoworkers at GM’s Lordstown complex, said it was a momentous occasion when 1112 secured a contract with the company.

“I can’t overstate how special this day is for me,” Green said. After GM shuttered – or “unallocated” – the Lordstown plant, Green recalled his membership was caught in a lurch as to what to do. “We saw people lose their homes, go bankrupt, get divorced, move across the country” because of pressures he said were brought on by the automaker. Green would relocate to another GM plant in Bedford, Ind.

He added that unlike the Trump administration, the Biden administration has been responsive to the UAW’s interests. “We get our phone calls answered. We get support. I’m signing on to three grants right now that are transforming the way we train workers for the future of EVs,” he said. “In part of those grants, they want labor’s input. They want labor to have a voice.”

Green said the foundation of the new agreement was built by those workers at Ultium. “Those people decided to stand up against health and safety issues, poor wages, retirement security,” he said. “They created good trouble in that plant when they decided to organize.”

Local 1112 President George Goranitis said when he was first hired at Ultium in 2022, he knew that the plant needed representation. At that time, workers were receiving an hourly wage between $15 and $16.50 per hour. Under the national agreement, wages for production begin at $26.91 per hour, plus other benefits.

“Many doubted our ability to secure a place under the national agreement,” he said. “We proved them wrong.” The UAW, now under the direction of International President Shawn Fain, used aggressive strategies such as stand-up strikes to leverage agreements with the Big Three automakers – GM, Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis.

Moreover, the local agreement crafted health and safety standards that are now built into the national contract, Goranitis said.

Ultium employee Tameka Butler said the new UAW contract has proved transformational. “Their presence has been a game changer. They ensure that we not only have fair wages and safe working conditions, but also a powerful voice that demands respect and fairness.”

Pictured at top: Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su visited United Auto Workers Local 1112’s union hall Thursday.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.