Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Members of the United Auto Workers in Indianapolis have reached a tentative labor agreement with Rolls-Royce North America, the union announced Wednesday night.
The agreement helped avert a strike by the union’s 800 local members, whose current contract was set to expire at midnight.
Negotiators for the UAW Local 933 were seeking increases in wages, an end to wage tiers, and a cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for all members, all of which are included in the new, five-year agreement, among other concessions.
UAW President Shawn Fain announced the deal on a livestream on the union’s Facebook page.
“Our members at Rolls-Royce do incredibly important work,” Fain said. “The company is the second-largest manufacturer of aircraft engines in the world, and the facility here in Indianapolis produces aircraft engines for our nation’s military. Our members are proud of the work they do. It’s in their blood. It’s in their sweat and their tears that make Rolls-Royce billions in profits possible.”
Skilled trades workers at the company will earn over $50 per hour, according to Fain.
“We also are seeing healthy general wage increases more than twice as high as the previous contract,” he said. “We told the company we needed wage increases in every year of the agreement at the new UAW, we will no longer accept lump sum bonuses in a place of wage increases which increase our lifetime earnings. That’s how you raise a standard of living for the working class.”
Fain added that the tentative agreement also includes “true profit-sharing” for union members. He said the company’s previous profit-sharing was based on a formula that “wasn’t transparent.”
“Now we’re back to a profit sharing formula based on the company’s publicly shared profit margins,” he said. “Our new profit-sharing formula means the company can’t lie. They can’t hide, and it means that Rolls-Royce members are going to earn, on average, thousands of more dollars than they have in the past.”
The tentative agreement must still be ratified by UAW Local 933 members. Fain said the union will be providing more information and holding meetings for members to ask questions to the bargaining team before voting to ratify.
Rolls-Royce issued the following statement to Inside INdiana Business after the announcement:
“Rolls-Royce is pleased to announce that we have reached a tentative agreement with the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America union. Our focus moving forward is to continue delivering for our customers and their important missions.”
Rolls-Royce is the third-largest manufacturer in the Indianapolis area with approximately 4,000 total employees and five manufacturing facilities, according to IBJ research.
The Indianapolis operation manufactures engines for the U.S. Air Force, including the B-52. Rolls-Royce landed the B-52 production contract, valued at up to $2.6 billion, in 2021.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.