Williams’ announcement came minutes after Thursday’s midnight strike deadline, and it also comes exactly a week after UAW representatives announced that the 36,000 hourly and 4,000 salaried UAW members rejected the previous contract agreed on by the union and Fiat-Chrysler management by a sizable 65 to 35 margin. Williams said that there were changes made to this agreement from the one rejected, although he has yet to specify the differences. The deal will stave off the immediate threat of a strike, but it still must be approved both UAW local leaders and its members.
Local United Auto Workers (UAW) union leaders are flocking to Detroit on Friday to hear UAW president Dennis Williams explain the details of an 11th-hour contract agreed upon by Fiat-Chrysler and the union. Williams’ announcement came minutes after Thursday’s midnight strike deadline, and it also comes exactly a week after UAW representatives announced that the 36,000 hourly and 4,000 salaried UAW members rejected the previous contract agreed on by the union and Fiat-Chrysler management by a sizable 65 to 35 margin. Williams said that there were changes made to this agreement from the one rejected, although he has yet to specify the differences. The deal will stave off the immediate threat of a strike, but it still must be approved both UAW local leaders and its members. In a statement, Williams said “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.”
Williams will comb over the new contract’s details with local UAW representatives at 11am on Friday at the UAW National Chrysler Council, which will be followed by a ratification vote by the Council members, a preliminary step before the full union votes on the measure. In a statement, Fiat-Chrysler acknowledged deal, but added “Because the agreement is subject to UAW member ratification, the company cannot discuss the specifics of the agreement pending a vote by UAW members.” Both Williams and Marichonne raved about the original contract after it was agreed upon September 15th, but the union’s strong rejection of the proposal may be a harbinger of trouble for Williams’ term as the UAW leader. The impending vote may be just as much a referendum on the leader as it is on the relationship between Fiat-Chrysler and workers. Both Ford and General Motors workers and management are using the negotiations as a bellwether for their upcoming contract discussions, and the given the rejection of last month’s agreement, workers for those companies may find Williams to be overly company-friendly.
Among several points of contention between UAW leadership and workers in the rejected deal was the disparity in pay between Fiat-Chrysler employees with less than eight years experience and those with more. Under the rejected agreement, entry level workers would start at $17 per hour, a dollar increase from the contract that expired Wednesday night, and top out at $25 after several years. Currently workers with more than eight years experience average $28 per hour. 45 percent of Fiat-Chrysler’s hourly employees fall into the lower pay-tier, which is the highest percentage among the three major Detroit automakers. Only 29 percent of Ford workers and 21 percent of GM UAW members fall into the lower tier, according to the Wall Street Journal. Also of concern for workers was the lack of future production commitments that are usually included in the contracts, but was omitted last time, due in large part to the recession and the reliance on government assistance. The company has already announced that much of the auto production in the greater Detroit area will be moving to Mexico, with the company increasing its popular truck and SUV production in the area to make up for the loss. Finally, due to a sizable increase on the federal tax for premium healthcare plans coming in 2017, many workers have expressed fears of benefit cuts, or increased costs for healthcare hidden in the contract. A work-stoppage would have been the first in the region since a two-day strike by GM workers in 2007.
Sources:
Detroit Free Press – Alisa Priddle, Greg Gardner and Brent Snavely
New York Times – Bill Vlasic
Wall Street Journal – Christina Rogers and Jeff Bennett
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