- hundreds of temporary workers at general motors assembly plants were told this week that their jobs are now permanent, the detroit free press reported today.
- among them, the largest group in one facility are 255 temps at the flint truck assembly plant, which builds the chevrolet silverado (above) and gmc sierra heavy-duty pickups.
- moving temporary employees to permanent status was a major sticking point in negotiations in the five-week uaw strike against gm last fall, and this move was foreseen in the contract they ultimately agreed on.
general motors has made good on one of the elements in its fresh contract with the united auto workers: this week, it made several hundred long-term temps into full-time regular employees. the terms of the contract stated that full-time temporary workers with three or more years of continuous service could begin to convert to permanent status starting on january 6, giving them a higher hourly wage and ability to accrue seniority.
the detroit free press reported that some 930 gm employees got the new status this week, among them workers from 30 of gm's 52 uaw-affiliated u.s. facilities. by terms of the new contract, in addition to the change in status for this set of workers, gm agreed to give permanent status to an additional 2000 temporary workers by 2021 by converting full-time temporary workers with two or more years of continuous service.
the status of these long-term temporary workers had been a major point of contention in union talks last fall. according to the free press report, temps make up as much as 10 percent of the gm workforce, or about 4100 workers as of the end of 2019.
separately, ford's contract with the uaw, ratified in mid-november, calls for the same terms for temps, including the conversion of temporary workers to full-time status now if they have three years of service and in 2021 with two years of service. this week, ford moved 592 people from temporary to permanent status, the free press reported.