UAW Retiree Medical Fund Reports $20.7B Shortfall

A United Auto Worker retiree medical fund created to reduce healthcare costs and increase services for more than 700,000 people reported a $20.7 billion difference between assets and future liabilities, Bloomberg reported Wednesday (via Automotive News). The shortfall increased by more than $16 billion over the last report.

A similar system proposed for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles workers in the union’s first proposed contract — which was rejected by workers nearly 2-to-1 — was scrapped in the second contract.

Accounting for future inflation and longer average lifespan are to blame for the increased shortfall, according to the report.

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FCA and UAW Reach Deal in Final Hour, Avert Strike for Now

On Wednesday night, as the deadline for strike action came closer and closer, the United Auto Workers-Fiat Chrysler Automobiles National Bargaining Committee announced they had “secured significant gains” over the last proposed tentative agreement that was widely rejected by UAW membership.

Details on the new agreement were not published.

The new proposed agreement averts a strike — for now — and will be sent Friday to local union leaders that comprise the UAW National Chrysler Council for discussion and voting.

“We heard from our members, and went back to FCA to strengthen their contract,” said UAW President Dennis Williams early Thursday morning in a statement. “We’ve reached a proposed Tentative Agreement that I believe addresses our members’ principal concerns about their jobs and their futures. We have made real gains and I look forward to a full discussion of the terms with our membership.”

FCA acknowledged they reached a new proposed tentative agreement with the union, but declined to give specifics due to the pending vote by UAW members.

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United Auto Workers, Fiat Chrysler Negotiating To Avert Strike

Negotiators for the United Auto Workers and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles are working to avoid a strike as a deadline looms Wednesday for 40,000 workers at the automaker’s plants.

Reuters reported (via Automotive News) that talks were ongoing to move forward or present a new four-year contract to workers after hourly employees roundly rejected the last proposed deal. The Detroit Free Press reported that employees voiced displeasure with the “alternative work schedules” in the contract that would keep workers on four, 10-hour shifts instead of five, 8-hour shifts, sometimes switching between late night and early morning shifts within days.

The last strike at Chrysler plants lasted for only 6.5 hours in 2007.

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BREAKING: Union Workers Prepare to Strike at Fiat Chrysler Plants

United Auto Workers at a Kokomo, Indiana plant have given notice to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles that it would strike Wednesday night, Automotive News reported. The notice is reportedly being used at other plants.

The automaker acknowledged the notification via a statement released Tuesday:

FCA US confirms that it has received strike notification from the UAW. The Company continues to work with the UAW in a constructive manner to reach a new agreement.

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Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Workers Reject Union Contract

United Auto Workers at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles officially rejected a proposed contract that would have raised wages for workers, but didn’t eliminate the tiered pay system for veteran and newly hired workers.

Reuters reported that 65 percent of the 40,000 union workers voted against the contract. Reports said that workers voiced concerns that the contract didn’t raise wages enough; created a lower-paid, “third” tier for parts and axle operations workers; and few details were provided for the health care co-op.

FCA relies heaviest among domestic automakers on lower-paid Tier 2 workers. Approximately 45 percent of hourly workers at FCA plants are Tier 2 workers.

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United Auto Workers Union Threatens Strike at Kansas City F-150 Plant

United Auto Workers at the Kansas City, Missouri plant that produces Ford F-150s may strike as early as Sunday if the automaker doesn’t “negotiate in good faith,” according to Jimmy Settles, UAW vice president:

The challenges we face may not be easy, and I certainly cannot predict the future, but I would rather die fighting than to do an injustice to this membership or our institution.

Settles wrote to union members that issues such as “manpower provisions, the national heat stress program, and skilled trades scheduling amongst others” prompted the threatened strike at the Kansas City plant.

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Apparently, FCA-UAW Workers Don't Really Like Proposed Deal

United Auto Workers at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ Jefferson North Assembly Plant and its Kokomo Transmission Plant voted down a contract proposal over the weekend, marking the latest and perhaps the most significant defeat to the union’s proposal, the Detroit Free Press reported.

According to reports, 66 percent of the workers, who build Jeep Grand Cherokees and Dodge Durangos at the Jefferson facility, vetoed the contract.

The contract faces an uncertain future with the rest of UAW workers at FCA, and while overall passage is mathematically possible, the growing rate of rejection doesn’t look particularly promising.

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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.

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UAW-FCA Negotiations: Salaried Say Yea, Hourly Say Nay (So Far)

Hourly employees at FCA’s stamping facility in Sterling Heights and parts operation in Warren, Michigan aren’t exactly thrilled with the deal they’ve been presented.

According to The Detroit News, more than half of hourly workers at the two locations have voted “no” to the new contract.

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Mopar Workers Frown, Vote Down UAW Contract

Detroit parts and axle operations workers Wednesday voted against a four-year contract proposed by the United Auto Workers and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, the Detroit News reported.

About 700 Local 1248 workers in Warren, Michigan, turned down the proposal and said Wednesday that the contract created a third, unfair pay tier for Mopar workers that would cap their wages at a lower rate than Tier 1 and Tier 2 workers at FCA.

Under the proposed contract, veteran Tier 1 workers could receive pay raises up to $30 an hour, and newer, Tier 2 workers’ pay could go up to $25 an hour. Parts and axle operations workers pay would top out at $22 and $22.35 per hour, respectively.

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UAW Includes Language in Newest Contract About Gender Identity

Included in the United Auto Workers latest round of negotiations was language that protected workers at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles from discrimination based on gender identity.

“During this round of bargaining the union expressed the importance of the parties both maintaining and strengthening policies that ensure the equal treatment of all employees,” the union wrote in its white paper to members.

Michigan and Ohio do not protect workers from discrimination based on gender identity, according to the ACLU. Only Illinois, where FCA currently builds the Dodge Dart, Jeep Compass and Patriot at its Belvidere plant, has a law that protects workers from gender-identity discrimination.

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Report: Mitsubishi Preparing To Close Plant In Normal Soon

Mitsubishi is planning to end operations at its Normal, Illinois plant and notify workers at the end of September of their plans to close the facility after failing to find a buyer for the plant, Reuters (via Automotive News) reported.

It’s unclear what may happen to the 900 hourly workers who make Mitsubishi Outlanders if a buyer for the plant isn’t found by November. According to the report, last year the plant churned out nearly 70,000 crossovers.

Mitsubishi and the United Auto Workers union this month were negotiating a contract for the workers that would extend to the original closing date for the plant, which was slated for next spring.

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Fiat Chrysler Union Workers May Get $3,000 To Approve Contract

United Auto Workers members working for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles could get a $3,000 bonus to ratify its newest contract in the next few days, Bloomberg reported.

The bonus will be on top of raises for the workers, something that the UAW stressed in its negotiations with the automaker. Tier 1, veteran workers, could see pay raises to bump up hourly wages to $30 an hour. Lower-paid, newly hired Tier 2 workers could get pay raises up to $25 hourly after eight years of employment.

The newest contract with the UAW could eventually end the tiered-pay system. Roughly 45 percent of union workers at FCA were hired as Tier 2 workers.

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FCA-UAW Contract Sees Trucks Coming Home, Cars Going to Mexico

Ram production will be coming back to the United States and car production moving to FCA’s Mexican operations, Automotive News is reporting citing anonymous sources.

The news comes just days after FCA and the UAW tentatively agreed to a new national contract while locals continue to hammer out the finer details at the plant level. According to the report, there will also be some movement of products within U.S. borders between FCA plants.

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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.

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  • Dave Holzman A design award for the Prius?!!! Yes, the Prius is a great looking car, but the visibility is terrible from what I've read, notably Consumer Reports. Bad visibility is a dangerous, and very annoying design flaw.
  • Wjtinfwb I've owned multiple Mustang's, none perfect, all an absolute riot. My '85 GT with a big Holley 4 barrel and factory tube header manifolds was a screaming deal in its day and loved to rev. I replaced it with an '88 5.0 Convertible and added a Supercharger. Speed for days, handling... present. Brakes, ummm. But I couldn't kill it and it embarrassed a lot of much more expensive machinery. A '13 Boss 302 in Gotta Have It Green was a subtle as a sledgehammer, open up the exhaust cut outs and every day was Days of Thunder. I miss them all. They've gotten too expensive and too plush, I think, wish they'd go back to a LX version, ditch all the digital crap, cloth interior and just the Handling package as an add on. Keep it under 40k and give todays kids an alternative to a Civic or WRX.
  • Jpolicke In a communist dictatorship, there isn't much export activity that the government isn't aware of. That being the case, if the PRC wanted to, they could cut the flow of fentanyl down to a trickle. Since that isn't happening, I therefore assume Xi Jinping doesn't want it cut. China needs to feel the consequences for knowingly poisoning other countries' citizens.
  • El scotto Oh, ye nattering nabobs of negativism! Think of countries like restaurants. Our neighbors to the north and south are almost as good and the service is fantastic. They're awfully close to being as good as the US. Oh the Europeans are interesting and quaint but you really only go there a few times a year. Gents, the US is simply the hottest restaurant in town. Have to stand in line to get in? Of course. Can you hand out bribes to get in quicker? Of course. Suppliers and employees? Only the best on a constant basis.Did I mention there is a dress code? We strictly enforce it. Don't like it? Suck it.
  • 1995 SC At least you can still get one. There isn't much for Ford folks to be happy about nowadays, but the existence of the Mustang and the fact that the lessons from back in the 90s when Ford tried to kill it and replace it with the then flavor of the day seem to have been learned (the only lessons they seem to remember) are a win not only for Ford folks but for car people in general. One day my Super Coupe will pop its headgaskets (I know it will...I read it on the Internet). I hope I will still be physically up to dropping the supercharged Terminator Cobra motor into it. in all seriousness, The Mustang is a.win for car guys.