UAW, Clarios reach new tentative agreement at striking Ohio battery plant

The more than 400 members of UAW Local 12 who have been on strike for six weeks will vote on the 3rd tentative agreement Friday.

June 14, 2023 10:05 AM

ABIGAIL HAM

The UAW has reached a new tentative agreement with the Ford- and GM-supplying Clarios battery plant near Toledo where about 400 members have been on strike since May 8.

Members will vote Friday on the tentative agreement — the third agreement to go to a vote so far. Members voted down the first at the end of April, before the strike began. They voted down a second on May 22.

After almost two weeks without meetings, the company met with the union June 5 to debrief the failed May 22 tentative agreement. They began negotiating again June 13 and quickly reached the new agreement.

"We appreciate the efforts and hard work of everyone involved and we're hopeful our employees will vote to approve what we see as a fair and reasonable approach. We look forward to getting back to building batteries together, to support our customers," said Kris Sherman, Clarios director of communications for U.S. and Canada.

Workers' primary concern has been the loss of overtime pay that would come with a new schedule the company wants to implement, Local 12 Clarios Battery Unit Chairman Aaron Shinaul told Automotive News before the third agreement was reached. Clarios did not immediately respond to a request for comment on overtime pay in the new agreement and David Green, UAW Region 2B director, said he wants members to see the agreement before he shares details.

"It's in the members' hands," Green said.

A local union representative for a Clarios plant in St. Joseph, Mo., told Automotive News last week that some production from the striking Holland, Ohio, plant would be shifted there. Clarios did not address Automotive News' request for confirmation of that shift, but later told KQTV2 in St. Joseph that the increased production there was not due to the strike in Ohio.

Clarios, of Milwaukee, was formerly part of Johnson Controls Inc. It ranks No. 75 on Automotive News' list of the top 100 global parts suppliers, with worldwide sales to automakers of $2.5 billion in its 2021 fiscal year.