UAW Local 699 Authorizes Strike at Nexteer; Tentative Agreement Reached Three Days Later
UAW Local 699 members at Nexteer in Saginaw, Michigan, voted 86% on May 21 to authorize a strike after rejecting two earlier tentative agreements. A new tentative agreement was reached May 24. Members continued reporting to work. Developing story.
By 411 Press Newsroom3 min read
Workers at Nexteer Automotive represented by UAW Local 699 in Saginaw, Michigan, voted on May 21, 2026, to authorize a strike, with 86% in favor — and three days later, on May 24, the union and the company announced a new tentative agreement. Members continued reporting to work throughout the dispute.
This is a developing story. The new tentative agreement has not yet been ratified by the membership.
How it moved
The authorization vote followed a sequence of rejected deals. Local 699 members rejected an initial tentative agreement in late March by roughly 96%, then rejected a second tentative agreement earlier in May by about 73%. The May 21 vote — 86% in favor of authorizing a strike — gave the local's bargaining leadership the standing to call a walkout if a workable deal was not reached.
Bargaining produced the third tentative agreement on May 24. Reporting on the dispute identifies the central issues as ending the plant's tiered wage system, larger raises, restoring cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), and concerns over mandatory overtime and scheduling.
Why Nexteer matters
Nexteer is a major just-in-time supplier of steering systems and driveline components. Its customers include General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis. Just-in-time means the plants that buy from Nexteer hold little inventory and rely on continuous shipments; a sustained walkout at the Saginaw operation would have exposure for multiple assembly plants across the Midwest within days, not weeks. That exposure is what raised the stakes of the May 21 authorization vote — it is analysis of the leverage at the table, not a prediction of a walkout.
UAW Local 699 represents the Saginaw workforce. The local has a long history at the site, which traces back to the GM-era Saginaw steering operations spun out into Nexteer.
What a strike authorization means
An authorization vote does not by itself start a strike. It gives the local's bargaining leadership the standing to call one. The 86% threshold is well above the simple majority required to authorize and signaled that the membership was prepared to walk if bargaining did not produce an acceptable agreement. Three days later, it did.
What we're watching
- The ratification vote on the May 24 tentative agreement
- Whether the agreement addresses the tiered wage system and restores COLA, the issues that drove the prior two rejections
- Statements from GM, Ford, and Stellantis on inventory exposure if ratification fails
We'll publish more as the ratification vote is set and held.
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