#ContractNegotiations
With No New Product Promised, GM Canada Workers Could Walk Off the Job at Midnight
GM Canada and the union representing Detroit Three autoworkers north of the border have entered their final day of contract talks ahead of a midnight strike deadline.
Unless both sides achieve a breakthrough today, there’s little reason to believe a walkout at the company’s Oshawa, Woodstock and St. Catharines, Ontario facilities won’t occur as the clock strikes twelve.
No More Mr. Nice Guy, Says Canadian Detroit Three Union Boss on Strike Chances
President for the union representing Detroit Three autoworkers north of the border says he has learned from past contract battles, and won’t make the same mistake this time.
Jerry Dias, president of Unifor, promises that no contract deal will be ratified without firm product commitments, including at General Motors’ endangered Oshawa assembly plant. If GM intends to shut that operation down, a Canada-wide strike is virtually guaranteed.
UAW-GM Contract Closer To Approval On Final Day Of Voting
With hours remaining until voting ends on the tentative contract between General Motors and the UAW, support for the contract continues to grow.
According to The Detroit News, over 80 percent of GM’s 52,600 hourly employees have had a chance to look over and vote upon the agreement, including those in Lordstown Assembly in Ohio, and Lansing Delta Township Assembly in Michigan.
Among Lansing’s over 3,000 employees, 54 percent of production and 43 percent of skilled trades workers voted in favor, per UAW Local 602. Over in Lordstown, Local 1714 (Stamping, Complex West) found healthy majorities in favor of the contract — 67.9 percent production, 57.4 percent skilled trades — while Local 1112 saw 72 percent of production and 29 percent of skilled trades workers voting the same. Both unions represent over 4,100 Lordstown employees.
Two More Locals Reject Proposed UAW-FCA US Contract
Two more local unions rejected the proposed four-year contract deal between FCA US and the UAW Friday, adding to the growing opposition as voting continues.
FCA, UAW Pact Could Eventually End Tiered Pay System
The tentative pact between the United Auto Workers and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles reached Tuesday evening may eventually end the two-tiered pay system for thousands of workers at the automaker, Reuters reported.
FCA chief executive Sergio Marchionne said the agreement would do away with the separate system “over time.” Roughly 45 percent of FCA’s workforce was hired at the lower, Tier 2 pay, which is roughly $9 less per hour than older, Tier 1 workers.
According to the report, raises for both classifications of workers would be likely, although details weren’t discussed.
UAW May Pull Plug on FCA Work at Any Time
Representatives from the United Auto Workers and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles agreed Tuesday to extend their contract on an “hour-by-hour” basis, Reuters reported. Workers reported Tuesday for their morning shifts, but those workers could walk out at any time if talks stall.
On Monday, it became clear that the UAW would set its sights on FCA and their larger share of Tier 2 workers — workers hired after the recession at a lower hourly wage — as the union aims to “bridge the gap” between the two tiers.
According to the report, the union may opt to strike, stage a limited walkout or continue negotiations if talks reach an impasse.
UAW Locals, FCA Reach Tentative Agreements Ahead Deadline
As national contract talks begin between the UAW and FCA US, the union’s lead negotiator for FCA says most of the locals have tentative agreements ready.
United Auto Workers Chrysler Department head of labor negotiations Norwood Jewell said in a letter to the union’s members Monday a few of the remaining locals were “having challenges reaching an agreement,” The Detroit News reports. The locals negotiate their own contracts — covering individual plant rules and issues — at the same time the union as a whole hammers out a national contract with the automakers.
FCA US To Bat Leadoff In UAW Talks, Marchionne To Miss Frankfurt
The UAW has chosen FCA US to bat leadoff in the union’s contract talks with the Detroit Three, prompting CEO Sergio Marchionne to forgo Frankfurt.
The move by the union to go after the weakest of the Detroit Three is meant to establish how all of the contract talks this month will proceed, Automotive News writes, with the possibility of striking out should the union not receive what they seek; the last UAW strike occurred with General Motors in 2007.
Two-Tier Wage System May Merge Toward Tier 2 In UAW-Detroit Three Talks
The two-tier wage system in place now may come down in this year’s UAW negotiations with the Detroit Three. If so, Tier 1 may be the dead man walking.
Williams: UAW Must Balance Member, Corporate Demands In Detroit Three Talks
Though the UAW would like to see wages go up as part of its upcoming talks with the Detroit Three, it also wants for the automakers to remain competitive.
Two-Tier Wage System Targeted For 2015 UAW Negotiations
2015 is only 15 days away, which means new contract negotiations between the Detroit Three and the United Auto Workers are coming, the main focus being the elimination the two-tier wage system implemented in 2007.
Williams: UAW To Be More Open Before Members, Public
With major negotiations between the Detroit Three coming up in 2015, United Auto Workers president Dennis Williams has vowed to be more open before the union’s membership and the general public in his leadership.
UAW Prepares For Autumn 2015 Detroit Three Negotiatons
Autumn 2015 will be a big moment for the United Auto Workers, as the union prepares to negotiate new contracts with the Detroit Three, with the aim of improving pay for both Tier 1 and Tier 2 members under conditions that weren’t there in the year prior to the Great Recession.
UAW Elects Secretary-Treasurer Williams To Union Presidency
Automotive News reports the United Auto Workers has elected secretary-treasurer Dennis Williams, who served in the role under now-retired president Bob King, as the union’s new president in a 3215 to 49 vote during the 36th UAW Constitutional Convention in Detroit. Williams, who came from the agricultural wing of the union, is the first union president not to have worked in the automotive industry.
Recent Comments