WENTZVILLE, Mo. — The results are in. After a 24-hour vote, a majority of UAW members at Wentzville's local 2250 have voted not to ratify the new General Motors contract.
A total of 3,058 ballots were cast between Tuesday and Wednesday. Here is the breakdown:
- 2,789 production members voted
- 1,274, or 45.68%, voted FOR ratification
- 1,515, or 54.32%, voted AGAINST ratification
- 269 skilled trade members voted
- 147, or 54.65%, voted FOR ratification
- 122, or 45.35%, voted AGAINST ratification
- Cast eight voided ballots
Technically, the vote out of Wentzville is split. Skilled trade members voted for ratification and production members voted against it.
"I don't know that I expected it," UAW Local 2250 President Katie Deatherage tells 5 On Your Side, "Our members have been very vocal about some of the demands they wanted to see in the contract that weren't quite there."
The unmet demands impact members who started after 2007, referred to in the contact as Tier 2 employees. Deatherage explains, "some of the things that were missing, that they wanted all along were the pensions and post-retirement healthcare."
Even though a majority of Wentzville members voted not to ratify the new contract, they may still end up working under it. The vote is not decided solely on Local 2250; national GM UAW members also get to vote.
As of Wednesday afternoon, 53.9% of national GM UAW members are voting in favor of the new contract. The UAW is tracking votes here.
The national consensus parallels Deatherage's personal vote: "I voted yes, because I believe this contract really benefitted everyone in one way or another. Some benefitted a little more and some a little less, but I truly believed everyone in this contract benefitted."
When the final votes come in Thursday and if the UAW contract ratifies, local 2250 members are left with the consequences.
"I think overall, it's a good contract," said former UAW president and current legislative chair Glenn Kage Jr."No contract does everybody get everything that they want. I have been around for a long time and in my 40-plus years as a union member and union activist for most of them, I have never seen a contract that makes everybody happy, it just doesn't happen."