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GM's labor deal with UAW union on verge of ratification

Nov 15 (Reuters) - General Motors' tentative labor deal with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union closed in on ratification as the votes were counted on Wednesday. Following the approval earlier in the day by more than 60% of union members at the Detroit automaker's large Arlington, Texas, assembly plant, additional votes in favor have the deal close to clinching majority approval. The number of union locals, most of which are smaller, still to report vote totals is not large. After several large assembly plants voted against the deal earlier on Wednesday, some media had reported the deal was heading toward failure. But Arlington's support, followed by strong voting in favor by smaller warehouse and parts facilities, has put the deal on the brink of approval. This would mark the first ratification of a deal, which runs through April 2028, with one of the Detroit Three automakers. Ford and Stellantis voting is still under way, and workers at both companies were favoring ratification by comfortable margins. The UAW's GM vote tracking site currently shows approval of the contract leading by a 54% to 46% margin with almost 32,000 workers having cast votes out of about 46,000 UAW-represented GM workers. The Arlington plant, with about 5,000 UAW members, has the most of any GM plant. Voting officially ends on Thursday at 4 p.m. EST, although most votes will be cast on Wednesday. The UAW went on strike for more than six weeks against the Detroit Three, seeking better wages, working conditions and cost-of-living adjustments. All three companies agreed to tentative agreements about two weeks ago. Workers at other GM assembly plants voted against the deal, including 60% of workers at its Fort Wayne, Indiana, truck plant, 53% at its Wentzville, Missouri, plant, 58% of workers at GM's Lansing Grand River plant and 61% of workers at the Lansing Delta Township plant. Seven of GM's 11 assembly plants rejected the deal. In addition to Arlington, workers at plants in Detroit, Fairfax, Kansas; and Lake Orion, Michigan; approved the agreement. Only nine facilities are still listed without vote totals on the UAW vote tracker, including GM's Lockport, New York, components plant with about 1,200 members. Those voting in favor of the agreement have a lead of almost 2,500 and many of the facilities still to come include workers who stand to receive large pay increases upon ratification.

GM faces possible class action lawsuit over 8-speed transmission

General Motors has been hit with a class-action lawsuit from owners who allege the eight-speed automatic transmission found in several rear-wheel-drive Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC models between the 2015 and 2019 model years has a defect that causes the vehicles to hesitate and jerk when accelerating or slowing down. The lawsuit was posted to ClassAction.org and spotted by GM Authority. Problems with GM's Hydra-Matic 8L90 and 8L45 transmissions have been well-documented on Internet forums and via complaints filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, with many reporting damage to their vehicles. The lawsuit was first filed in December in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida but appears to have been transferred recently to New York. Autoblog sought comment from Theodore Leopold, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs. "These transmissions have a common defect," the complaint reads. "Drivers attempting to accelerate or decelerate their cars feel a hesitation, followed by a significant shake, shudder, jerk, clunk, or 'hard shift' when the vehicle's automatic transmission changes gears." The problem also occurs when the vehicles accelerate in a single gear, without shifting, the plaintiffs allege. "Drivers have reported that the shift is sometimes so violent, they feel as though they have been hit by another vehicle." The problem is believed to center on the transmission, torque converter or both. The complaint says it causes undue friction, causing hydraulic systems and gears to function improperly and sometimes leaves metal shavings throughout the transmission, leading to costly repairs and replacement of parts or the entire transmission. It says GM has known about the problems since shortly after it introduced the transmissions, and has issued 13 technical service bulletins, none of which have resolved the problem. GM declined to comment on the lawsuit. The plaintiffs say GM should have warned consumers about the issues and covered repairs under each vehicle's three-year/36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty. They're seeking statewide classes in at least six states: California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Oklahoma and Texas.

Next Cadillac Escalade's interior spied for the first time

Update: Now that new spy photos of another large GM SUV have surfaced, we believe these shots show us a GMC Yukon interior, not a Cadillac Escalade. You can see the new spy shots here that depict a much more upscale vehicle interior compared to the fuzzy center stack shown in the shots of the Yukon. The new Cadillac Escalade has a lot of work to do in order to properly compete with Lincoln's wonderfully luxurious Navigator. These interior spy photos are our first look at what Cadillac is working with on the inside of its new luxury truck. We won't make final judgements, as this vehicle is still a prototype and subject to change. However, a few key bits are noticeable from the fuzzy photos. As expected, Cadillac's CUE infotainment and center stack is nowhere to be seen. Replacing it is a new interior design language, with a tablet-like screen that seems to rise out of the sloped stack on top. Below the screen is a strip of stitched leather and a couple prominently placed air vents. To the left of this area is what appears to be a push-button gear shifting system, replacing the column-mounted shifter currently in use. Below all that on a lower level of the center stack are all the climate controls, along with what look like physical buttons for what could be audio-related controls. Does it look as luxurious as the Lincoln? Not with all the coverings and shrouding it doesn't, which means we'll have to wait until we get the full picture. One thing that's clear is that the interior design is definitely going to be wildly different than the current Escalade. That center stack flows downward as one sloping piece into the high and bulky center console area. This design looks like it brings the center console further downward, and also uses a multi-tiered look. It's tough to read what's on the screen, but the software looks like the same stuff we got a preview of on the new Cadillac CT5 and CT4 sedans. As for the exterior shots, there's almost nothing that we haven't already gotten a taste of in previous spy photos. The independent rear suspension is a go, as are what appear to be massive headlight and LED DRL fixtures. If you look through the wrapping, you can make out how far up and down the lighting fixtures stretch ... or perhaps they're separate units altogether. It's tough to tell at this point.