Ultium Cells, a joint venture between General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) and LG Energy Solutions, has agreed to increase hourly wages for hundreds of workers at its Lordstown, Ohio, battery plant by between $3 and $4.
The UAW union hailed the interim wage increase, which will also result in thousands of dollars of back pay, as a victory for workers who have been “organizing relentlessly to combat dangerous working conditions and appallingly low pay.”
“After months of public pressure and worker organizing, Ultium was forced to take a first step towards economic justice for the workers who are powering GM’s electric vehicle future,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement.
“When we fight hard, we can win big, and we aren’t done fighting for standard-setting wages and benefits at Ultium and beyond.”
Ultium Cells produces battery cells for GM’s growing battery fleet and is expected to qualify for more than $1 billion a year in federal tax credits when it is running at full capacity.
Ultium workers currently make between roughly $20 and $25 an hour for production workers and $25 to $34.60 an hour for maintenance employees, according to a report on CNBC.
The UAW noted that workers at Ultium Cells won their union in a landslide vote of 710 to 16 in December 2022 — becoming the first in the nation to successfully unionize at a large battery cell production plant. Workers organized in response to serious health and safety concerns and poverty wages.
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