Union Talks Set to Start on Monday, Will Focus on Raises

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

The newest round of negotiations between the Big Three automakers and the United Auto Workers will focus on narrowing the gap between veteran workers and “second-tier” workers hired after 2011, Reuters is reporting.

Talks between the UAW, which represents around 138,000 workers, and Ford, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and General Motors will begin Monday. The UAW’s contract with GM ends Sept. 14.

Union President Dennis Williams said he wanted to focus on narrowing the gap between veteran workers, who make on average $28 an hour, and workers hired post-recession, who make on average $16 to $19 an hour, according to the story.

The raises would be significant for more than 39,000 workers who were hired after the recession on the “second-tier” system. More than 40 percent of FCA’s union workforce was hired at second-tier rates of $15.78 to $19.28 per hour, compared to 28 and 20 percent for Ford and GM respectively.

Falling labor costs have helped the Big Three stay competitive with other automakers, Sean McAlinden, chief economist at the Center for Automotive Research told Reuters. However, rising profits and sales have prompted Williams to call for the automakers’ to share profits with workers.

In an interview in February, Williams told Reuters that the union’s workers need the automakers to remain competitive in the long-term for his membership.

“We’re … mature organizations that have been through a hell of a lot together to survive,” Williams said. “None of us want to blow it.”

On Thursday, Ford announced it was ending production of the Focus and C-Max at its Wayne, Michigan plant by 2018.


Aaron Cole
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  • Rday Rday on Jul 11, 2015

    It is not just wages it is work rules, etc. a company has little incentive to invest if the uaw can start a strike to force concessions on the manufacturer. A low wage plus high profit sharing shifts the weight to the union and not just the company,,,,steel companies and others have tried that and it works. Of course if business slows down then everyone takes a hit including the unions. and the uaw will not take any cut in pay. i know many uaw members and half are pretty much nimwits and cannot think for themselves or even function without the union to keep them employed. my ex soninlaw is one of them. a complete drunk and an idiot that could not live without the union keeping him around. nuff said. thank god for the japanese and koreans; without them the uaw would have up paying ridiculous prices for poorly built products. of course the detroit gang of three were also a part in this conspiracy against the american working class.

    • See 4 previous
    • Ihatetrees Ihatetrees on Jul 11, 2015

      You're correct to focus on work rules. Because of these rules, US unionized plants are much more inefficient than a) US transplants b) most foreign 'union' plants. An example of 'b' above - German plants often reduce hours across the board than resort to layoffs. In the magical, economically illiterate world of Unicorns and the UAW, such a proposal would be DOA. In UAW plants, fights have broken out over who 'gets' a (highly sought after) layoff... Also, what sort of so-called management team AGREES to the cancer of a two-tier wage system in their plants? Evidently GM and Chrysler MBA types. I understand the the Government had its thumb on the scales during the bankruptcy negotiation, but holy freakin' crap. Even the most clueless career academic/government social justice type from this Administration could have grasped the inanity of a 2-tier wage. Why didn't GM and Chrysler push against this more?

  • Anomaly149 Anomaly149 on Jul 11, 2015

    The whole Ford Focus thing smells like posturing. What would they even move to MAP? Unless they just want to move it all to Cuautitlan and punt the Fiesta overseas.

  • Lorenzo Lorenzo on Jul 12, 2015

    I remember in 1986, Lee Iacocca said, "We have plenty of jobs at $17/hour, we don't have any jobs at $21/hour." Chrysler workers were making $14/hour on the old contract. Well, the $17/hour Iacocca offered in 1986 would be $36.88 today. The $28/hour paid to senior workers today would be $12.90 in 1986, and the $16-$19 for the lower tier today would have been $7.37-$8.76 back in 1986. If you want to contest the health and retirement package or the work rules (ESPECIALLY the work rules), go ahead. The salaries, though, have had their purchasing power eaten up by inflation, thanks to the Federal Reserve financing our deficits with the printing press.

  • Indi500fan Indi500fan on Jul 12, 2015

    Great lead pic. Williams looks like a classic union table thumper. Bob King was way too scholarly in appearance.

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