What to expect from General Motors strike pre-authorization, what Elon Musk has so far, and how to encourage people to buy your environmentally friendly cars: All this and more in the morning shift on Thursday, October 17, 2019.

1st place: BATTLE of UAW Vs. GM isn’t finished yet

GM and United Auto Workers have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, but that doesn’t mean the strike is over. Nothing is set in stone yet.

First, we don’t know all the details about the contract yet. But it has Whats considered some solid wins for workers. Heres Detroit Free press roundup:

Some details of the agreement have leaked, and the creation and preservation of 9,000 jobs is a boost from the Union’s original proposal, which proposed a $ 7 billion investment in U.S. facilities over four years, resulting in 5,400 new or saved jobs.

Here are some other details of the proposed four year contract:

Increase in wages by 3-4% and lump-sum payments. The exact details of the raise are not known. In the 2015 contract, employees received a 3% pay increase for one year and three and 4% lump sum payments for alternate years.

The ratification bonus is at least $9,000.

The Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant will remain open. The plant will build an electric pickup, but it’s unclear how many jobs the pickup will create or save. Some reports said the deal does not include production at Lordstown, Ohio, an Assembly plant that, like Detroit-Hamtramck, was aimed at idling.

New Union workers, who currently only get two weeks off a year, will be able to take one of those weeks at the time they choose. In the previous contract, these employees had to take both paid weeks off during planned plant shutdowns. In accordance with this proposal the second week of the closure of the plant will be considered a dismissal, and workers can qualify for unemployment.

As previously reported by the Free press, a deal was struck on the way of permanent temporary workers, which is a key requirement of the UAW.

The UAW will gather local leaders to explain the tentative agreement that was reached at 10:30 a.m. today. Those leaders will then vote on whether full UAW members should vote to ratify the new contract. At this time, managers will also determine whether workers will continue to strike and, if not, when they will return to work.

If the leaders decide to move forward with a ratification vote, they will return a potential new contract to their individual chapters. From Bloomberg:

The process can be cumbersome; Local leaders, along with representatives from international Union headquarters, will hold meetings at GM plants to brief members and answer questions.

Because some factories have two or three shifts of workers, they will schedule multiple meetings at different hours.

Voting will take place in factories and during working hours to ensure the highest turnout, which is the key to ratification.

2nd place: Volvo wants to pay you to charge its eVs

As an automaker joining all the electric parties a little late, how do you get people interested in driving your car, as opposed to, say, a brand that they’re already familiar with? You give EM money, of course!

With the Volvos official announcement of its all-electric XC40 came a host of other promises too to interest people interested in the new SUV. Namely that Volvo will compensate buyers for their charge. From Bloomberg:

Volvo is tying the launch of its first all-electric crossover vehicle, the XC40 Recharge, with a broader plan to reduce the carbon footprint of its models by 40% through 2025. And his support is that the promise to pay for the first years is worth the cost to owners of their plug-in hybrids starting in the 2021 model year.

Thats not a bad deal considering the fact that EV charging costs change quite dramatically, depending on where and when you charge your car. Edmunds has a really great breakdown on how to calculate the cost of your charge. Some charging stations allow you to charge for free, but its not guaranteed charging during peak hours (such as in the afternoon) will cost more than if you were to charge at night. And the charging rules can be quite complicated. Having a year of free charging will be a great way to decipher the nuances of the charge.

3rd place: Telsa gets OK for manufacturing in China

Tesla has been added to the list of manufacturers allowed to operate in China, the country’s industry Ministry said Thursday. The company has also received a certificate that will allow it to start production at any time.

From Reuters:

Tesla’s $ 2 billion plant is being built in the Eastern Chinese city of Shanghai, its first vehicle production site abroad.

Reuters reported earlier this month that Tesla plans to start production at its factory in China this month. It is unclear when it will hit year-end production targets due to uncertainty around orders, labor and suppliers.

Tesla aims to produce at least 1,000 Model 3s a week from a factory in Shanghai by the end of this year as it tries to boost sales in the world’s largest auto market and avoid higher import tariffs imposed on U.S. cars.

That was a pretty obvious progression, given the fact that China excluded Tesla from a 10 percent tax on car purchases earlier this year. Beijing is keen to start defining its own place in the larger automotive industry while also maintaining a focus on environmental standards.

4th place: Musk is facing a lawsuit AIG

Its a sticky situation, so well let Bloomberg give you the details:

Elon Musk has told lawyers representing a British cave diver suing him that Hess is financially illiquid, according to a legal filing.

Attorney Vernon Unsworth, who sued for defamation last year after Musk attacked him on Twitter, pressed Tesla Inc. heads of counsel last month for information on all insurance policies applicable to claims made in the lawsuit. An exhibition filed Monday shows two lawyers sparring over information about Musk hawke’s ties to AIG.

In short, financially illiquid basically means Musk has a lot of assets that are worth a lot of money, but very little actual cash in the Bank.

AIG decided not to comment on the claims, Bloomberg reported. Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, said the entire lawsuit is not an event, but There’s still a chance to see AIG play a role in the defamation case scheduled to begin on December 3.

A $ 79 million fine, actually. The company failed to comply with government regulations on fuel emissions in 2017, and now faces a civil fine, according to Automotive News.

Here’s more:

Of the 18 major automakers in the United States, 13, including Fiat Chrysler, did not meet fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards for the 2017 model year without using credits, according to the National highway traffic safety administration.

The 2017 fleet model fell 1-1 / 2 miles per gallon short of the 33.8 miles per gallon standard based on annual performance excluding credits, NHTSA reported. The deficit was 1/2 mile per gallon for the 2016 model year.

In the Grand scheme of things, a $ 79 million fine for a car manufacturer that makes hundreds of millions in revenue each quarter is more like a slap on the wrist than you justified for a week.

This is not the first time the FCA has had to pay a fine for its failure to meet standards, either:

After paying $ 77.3 million last year for the 2016 model year fuel economy deficit, a Fiat Chrysler spokesman confirmed Wednesday the company received a letter about the 2017 fine and has 60 days to pay the fine.

This gap in U.S. automakers ‘ emissions regulation and actual production standards is being used by the trump administration as an argument to roll back or freeze vehicle emissions and mileage standards through 2026.

Reverse: OPECs oil embargo begins, 1973

Neutral: Good contract?

Based on what we know so far, is this a good deal for UAW workers?