United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2250, representing the Wentzville plant, voted in favor of a proposal from General Motors (GM) to end the ongoing strike.
A $1.5 billion investment into the plant in Wentzville is on the table during negotiations, multiple sources confirmed to The Missouri Times.
That particular plant was included in a massive workforce development bill pushed through the General Assembly in the spring. Signed into law by Republican Gov. Mike Parson, it was designed to lure a $1 billion expansion of the plant.
UAW Local 2250 cast 3,300 total ballots, with 20 voided. Of those, 63.5 percent (1,913) of production workers approved of the proposal. Additionally, 69.9 percent (202) of skilled trades employees voted in favor of the proposal.
UAW workers nationwide are voting on the GM proposal this week. Workers went on strike in mid-September, demanding better wages and job protection. The parties had reached the tentative agreement last week.
“It’s definitely a step in the right direction,” UAW Local 2250 President Glenn Kage previously told The Missouri Times.
Kane specifically praised the inclusion of a plan for conversion of temporary workers, healthcare remaining in tact, and the recovering of some wages lost.
Questions about retention at the plant, however, abounded.
Nearly 4,500 UAW Local 2250 workers are employed at the Wentzville plant.
The Wentzville plant produces Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize trucks as well as Chevy Express and GMC Savana full-size vans. It reported nearly $340 million in state wages in 2018.
Fifty-one percent of the voting membership needs to vote in favor of the agreement for it to get approval.
Kaitlyn Schallhorn was the editor in chief of The Missouri Times from 2020-2022. She joined the newspaper in early 2019 after working as a reporter for Fox News in New York City.
Throughout her career, Kaitlyn has covered political campaigns across the U.S., including the 2016 presidential election, and humanitarian aid efforts in Africa and the Middle East.
She is a native of Missouri who studied journalism at Winthrop University in South Carolina. She is also an alumna of the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C.
Contact Kaitlyn at kaitlyn@themissouritimes.com.
