About That United Auto Workers Contract With Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

by Aaron Cole

December 31st, 2020 11:11 AM

The Detroit Free Press reported that the deal appears to be mathematically impossible after several large locals voted down the proposed contract this week.

The margins of defeat have been growing since Mopar and axle operators workers voted down the proposal by just over 50 percent and 65 percent last week, according to reports. Workers in Toledo, which builds the Jeep Wrangler and may lose the Cherokee to Sterling Heights, Michigan in order to build more Wranglers, voted overwhelmingly against the proposal; 87 percent declined the contract according to the Free Press.

Union workers at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles plants say that the contract, which does not specify production sites or moving plans — such as shifting truck and car production — doesn’t assuage concerns that more jobs will be lost to Mexico.

According to reports, workers at FCA plants have voiced concerns that the proposed UAW contract didn’t provide a clear path for lower-paid, entry workers to make as much as veteran Tier 1 workers. Newly hired Tier 2 workers, who make on average $9 less per hour than Tier 1 employees, comprise about 45 percent of FCA’s hourly workforce.

UAW President Dennis Williams dismissed concerns that the contract didn’t make clear a path to higher wages, saying that workers could apply for higher paying jobs within FCA.

The workers have also expressed concerns that the health care cooperative, created as a way to control costs, is lacking clear details.

Voting on the contract will continue Wednesday, but it’s unclear what may happen when workers turn down the proposal. Negotiators for the union and FCA could work again on a new deal, workers may strike or limit future work at FCA’s plants.

#Contract #FiatChryslerAutomobiles #Mopar #SterlingHeights #Toledo #Union #UnitedAutoWorkers

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RideHeight on Sep 30, 2015

It'd be nice to hear from someone with skin in this game instead of the usual barking-loungers.

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Charliej on Oct 01, 2015

Fiat has plenty of underutilized plants outside the US, if the UAW decides to strike. So do Ford and GM. The UAW may think that they can dictate terms to the automakers, but those days are over. It would take some time, effort and money to move production out of the UAW's reach, but it can be done.

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- Highdesertcat on Oct 01, 2015
  
  I agree. And I hope that it WILL actually be dome. The UAW has been disastrous for the US auto industry since time immemorial. The UAW isn't happy that Americans are provided decent paying jobs by the transplants in the South. The UAW's never-ending insidious agenda of unionizing auto plants in RTW states is a recipe for disaster by bringing the same Detroit 3 bankrupting scenario to otherwise profitable employers. All this drama for union dues. Let's move UAW jobs to non-union locations, inside and outside the US. Whatever it takes to maximize shareholder profits.
  
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