UAW Sends Tentative Fiat Chrysler Labor Deal to Members for Ratification

Plenty of planks found in the quickly hammered out UAW-Ford contract can be found in the tentative deal forged between the United Auto Workers and Fiat Chrysler. Following approval from the National UAW-FCA Council, the agreement reached last weekend goes to members for final approval (or rejection) on Friday.

The two sides reached an agreement far quicker than some predicted, but the final word on the deal will come from workers.

From Cindy Estrada, director of the union’s FCA department:

“This pattern agreement lifts all current full-time employees to top pay in four years; provides parity on health care for all in-progression employees; provides a pathway to full-time status and eventually top pay for all temporary employees; prescription drug coverage for temporary employees; a $9,000 signing bonus for traditional members and a $3,500 signing bonus for temporary members; enhanced the profit sharing formula by 12.5% and created over 7,900 jobs from over $9 billion in investment – including $4.5 billion in newly announced projects.”

Under the tentative agreement, workers hired during the last eight years would receive the same healthcare benefits as long-time employees. Matching the deals reached with Ford and General Motors, the agreement would provide a 4-percent bonus this year and next, with an annual 3-percent bonus slated for the remainder of the contract period.

Profit-sharing checks would rise to $900 for every 1 percent of the automaker’s North American profit margin, which is up $100 from the previous contract.

And of that investment total, $7.8 billion would flow into FCA’s U.S. assembly plants. Much of that sum has already been announced (read more about the automaker’s Michigan plant plans and Jeep portfolio expansion here.)

During the latest contract talks, FCA was under pressure to do more for new and temporary workers — a class of employee FCA relies on far more than its Detroit rivals. The contents of the tentative agreement means Fiat Chrysler would lose much of its long-held labor cost advantage over GM and Ford.

[Image: Fiat Chrysler]