The autoworkers strike is over as the United Auto Workers union and GM reached a deal! GM was the last domino to fall, as fellow carmakers Ford and Stellantis had already reached an agreement.

Union workers will get an initial wage increase of 11%, through April 30, 2028. according to a report in NBC Business News in an article by Marley Jay. They will also receive a boost in pay of 25% over the course of the deal.

The new contract also reinstates cost of living adjustments, allows workers to reach the top tier of wages in three years instead of eight, and protects workers' right to strike over plant closures.

UAW leader Shawn Fain's bargaining position all along was that the automakers were making record profits, and had repeatedly stated "Record profits mean record contracts."

Fain repeatedly spoke out against "corporate greed" as the reason for worker's sacrifices. He was right. The UAW has now officially suspended its strike against the Big Three.

President Joe Biden joined a picket line in solidarity with the UAW, becoming the first sitting president to do so. Biden called this a "historic agreement." Other political leaders, mainly Democrats also openly supported the UAW.

The transition to electric vehicles to eventually replace the traditional internal combustion engine was also a key part of the agreement. GM workers can now go back to work just like employees of Ford and Stellantis.

The new contract will raise the costs of production for the automakers. All of the Big Three have agreed to approximately a 33% pay raise for veteran workers.

Fain's winning strategy of directing a unified strike worked. This is the biggest takeaway from this record deal and will cost GM $7 billion over 4 1/2 years.

Ford said the new contract will result in new car prices being increased by approximately $900 per vehicle in labor costs.

The biggest gain in all of this is a shot in the arm to unions in general, especially considering the recent successful settlements of the UPS and Hollywood writers and actors strikes.

It was never about having enough money to go around. The impasse was the sheer greed of the owners trying to squeeze more profits from the rank-and-file workers to further enrich themselves and their shareholders.

America has become a nation of haves and have-nots over the years as the middle class has shrunk ever since the 1960s. The minimum annual income in 2023 for a family of four to be considered middle-class is approximately $64,000.

According to the Pew Research Center, the middle class dropped to 50% in 2021 from 61% in 1971. The stranglehold of the greedy, obscenely wealthy top 1% and their corporate toadies has further reduced hope and made life in America increasingly difficult.

This monstrous disparity gap in wages has divided our country into red states and blue states. It has caused an increase in gun sales and mass shootings in schools, synagogues, and even shopping malls.

It has destroyed hopes and dreams, ambition and aspirations, and made Americans fear and mistrust each other.

There is a political undercurrent to all of this, but well-paid American workers and a rise in the middle class is a key element in restoring this country to its former prominence.

Hope springs eternal, and this most recent victory by the UAW in the Big Three auto workers strike has restored hope to so many Americans.

It is a solid victory in the struggle to increase parity against the forces of anarchy and white Christian nationalists who have been promoting a dystopian future of anti-democratic forces and a rabid fear of "the other."

The successful strike by the UAW is hopefully the first step in a return to normalcy, a rejection of the fear and hate that has been dividing Americans into two camps, two Americas, separate and unequal.

The whole world is watching to see if the American dream can still be salvaged from the wreckage of the old order. It is a bold and significant step forward, a chance at national unity, and a rejection of the forces of hate.

Nothing good comes without a struggle. This is a major victory for all of us.

The people united, will never be defeated. We are all connected…