GM Ultium battery plant ratifies UAW contract deal with big pay increase
Workers at GM’s Ultium battery plant in Lordstown, Ohio have voted to ratify their UAW contract deal with GM, earning big pay increases as they are brought under the national UAW/GM master agreement.
Soon after GM’s Ultium plant opened, workers had noted high turnover at the plant, as workers found they could move to other skilled trades and earn higher pay than the ~$15/hr that GM was initially offering. This pay was much lower than the auto industry average, and much lower than the pay that had been offered at the Lordstown plant before it was converted to a battery factory.
In addition, workers were concerned over lax manufacturing health and safety processes.
And so, the plant ended up first voting to unionize with UAW in late 2022. This won the workers there a 25% pay increase, but that was just the start of it.
Soon after that initial agreement, the UAW went on strike nationally, covering all three of the major American automakers. That strike ended up as a big success for the UAW, which won big pay increases across all three automakers.
As part of those agreements, GM agreed to bring its battery plants under the UAW master agreement, rather than treating the plants as suppliers which generally have lower pay.
Now the UAW has negotiated a new agreement with GM, bringing the Ultium plant up to speed with big pay increases and several other worker protections too.
The contract was presented to workers last week, and workers voted over the last few days. Once the ballots were counted, 98% of workers had voted to ratify the contract.
The benefits are myriad and the pay scale is complex, but some workers will see their pay more than doubled from pre-union rates. Over the next few years, some workers will see their wages raised up to ~$35-40/hr, whereas back in 2022 employees would start around $15-16/hr.
There’s also better overtime, certain paid days off, and union health & safety representatives.
You can see a full list of highlights of the plan on UAW’s website.
UAW has been making a lot of moves in the past year. Beyond the strikes themselves, we’ve seen UAW launch a campaign to unionize all other automakers in America, and just last week we saw a fledgling unionization drive at Tesla.
We also recently saw the VW plant in Chattanooga vote to unionize, making history as the first foreign-owned automaker plant in the US to join UAW, and the first newly unionized auto plant in the US South in a long time. It had previously been the only nonunion plant owned by VW globally.
But beyond that, UAW’s wins have already started improving pay across the rest of the industry. Immediately after the new deals were announced, several other automakers raised wages in response, showing how union wins can help to buoy pay across an industry, even for nonunion workers.
However, UAW’s momentum was slowed recently as it failed to unionize a Mercedes plant in Alabama after Mercedes hired anti-union firms to sway employees against the vote. Mercedes actions are subject to an unfair labor practices case that is being investigated by the NLRB and by the German government.
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Environment
U.S. crude oil falls below $60 a barrel to lowest since 2021 on tariff-fueled recession fears
A view shows disused oil pump jacks at the Airankol oil field operated by Caspiy Neft in the Atyrau Region, Kazakhstan April 2, 2025.
Pavel Mikheyev | Reuters
U.S. oil prices dropped below $60 a barrel on Sunday on fears President Donald Trump’s global tariffs would push the U.S., and maybe the world, into a recession.
Futures tied to U.S. West Texas intermediate crude fell more than 3% to $59.74 on Sunday night. The move comes after back-to-back 6% declines last week. WTI is now at the lowest since April 2021.
Worries are mounting that tariffs could lead to higher prices for businesses, which could lead to a slowdown in economic activity that would ultimately hurt demand for oil.
Oil futures, 5 years
The tariffs, which are set to take effect this week, “would likely push the U.S. and possibly global economy into recession this year,” according to JPMorgan. The firm on Thursday raised its odds of a recession this year to 60% following the tariff rollout, up from 40%.
Fueled by incentives from the Illinois EPA and the state’s largest utility company, new EV registrations nearly quadrupled the 12% first-quarter increase in EV registrations nationally – and there are no signs the state is slowing down.
Despite the dramatic slowdown of Tesla’s US deliveries, sales of electric vehicles overall have perked up in recent months, with Illinois’ EV adoption rate well above the Q1 uptick nationally. Crain’s Chicago Business reports that the number of new EVs registered across the state totaled 9,821 January through March, compared with “just” 6,535 EVs registered in the state during the same period in 2024.
Those numbers represent more than 50% growth in EV registrations – far beyond the expected 12% first-quarter increase nationally being projected by Cox Automotive. (!)
What’s going on in Illinois?
While President Trump and Elmo were running for re-election, they campaigned on the threat promise of canceling the $7,500 federal tax credit for EVs. Along with California Governor Gavin Newsom, Illinois’ Governor JB Pritzker made countermoves – launching a $4,000 rebate for new electric cars and up to $1,500 for the purchase of a new electric motorcycle.
At the same time, the state’s largest utility, ComEd, launched a $90 million EV incentive program featuring a new Point of Purchase initiative to deliver instant discounts to qualifying business and public sector customers who make the switch to electric vehicles. That program has driven a surge in Class 3-6 medium duty commercial EVs, which are eligible fro $20-30,000 in utility rebates on top of federal tax credits and other incentives (Class 1-2 EVs are eligible for up to $7,500).
We covered the launch of those incentives when the program was announced at Chicago Drives Electric last year, but the message here is simple: incentives work.
SOURCES: Chicago Business, Ray Cunningham; featured image by the author.
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The electric construction equipment experts at XCMG just released a new, 25 ton electric crawler excavator ahead of bauma 2025 – and they have their eye on the global urban construction, mine operations, and logistical material handling markets.
Powered by a high-capacity 400 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery capable of delivering up to 8 hours of continuous operation, the XE215EV electric excavator promises uninterrupted operation at a lower cost of ownership and with even less downtime than its diesel counterparts.
XCMG is delivering on part of that reduced downtime promise with the lower maintenance and easier repair needs of electric equipment, and delivering on the rest of it with lickety-quick DC fast charging that can recharge the machine’s massive battery in 1.5-2 hours … but that’s not the slick bit. The XCMG XE125EV can be powered up without leaving the job site thanks to its BYD battery swap technology.
We first covered XCMG and its battery swap technology back in January, and covered similar battery-swap tech being developed by MOOG Construction offshoot ZQUIP, as well – but while XCMG’s battery tech has been in production for several years, it’s still not widely known about in the West (even within the industry).
XCMG showed off its latest electric equipment at the December 2024 bauma China, including an updated version of its of its 85-ton autonomous electric mining truck that features a fully cab-less design – meaning there isn’t even a place for an operator to sit, let alone operate. And that’s too bad, because what operator wouldn’t want to experience an electric truck putting down 1070 hp more than 16,000 lb-ft of torque!?
Easy in, easy out
The best part? All of the company’s heavy equipment assets – from excavators to terminal tractors to dump trucks and wheel loaders – all use the same 400 kWh BYD battery packs, Milwaukee tool style. That means an equipment fleet can utilize x number of vehicles with a fraction of the total battery capacity and material needs of other asset brands. That’s not just a smart use of limited materials, it’s a smarter use of energy.
You can check out all the XE215EV’s specs at this tear sheet, and get an in-person look at the Chinese company’s latest electric excavator this week in Munich, Germany.
SOURCE | IMAGES: XCMG.
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