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Under the collective agreement and sealed
30th October, 2007
The Chrysler-American workers have a new four-year collective agreement only a narrow majority. This has the American Automobile Workers union UAW (United Auto Workers), in the early hours of Sunday in Detroit announced. Previously it had already at General Motors a similar new collective agreement. Following the adoption by the Chrysler officials are now bargaining with Ford in full swing. Ford had in the past year, mainly because of non-performing North American auto business, a loss of 12.6 billion dollars statement. The company will close many factories and 30,000 jobs deleted. Ford is also in the process of Jaguar and Land Rover for sale.
Knappe majority
It voted after UAW-Angaben only 56% of the production in the Chrysler-employed workers and 51% of the other skilled workers for the new collective agreement. On the other hand, spoke to 94% of employees and 79% of the union represents technicians for the collective agreement. The Chrysler workers had a brief six-strike carried out before October, a collective agreement has been reached.
The new collective agreement is for 45,000 Chrysler workers and 55,000 Operating pensioners and 23,000 members. The collective agreement brings additional total benefits of 10,235 US dollars over four years. As with General Motors, the costly health insurance for pensioners operating in one of the union-managed health insurance fund introduced by Chrysler partially funded.
Less wages for new employees
Very controversial was at the Chrysler workers, the introduction of a dual-wage system in which new workers who do not work in production, substantially lower wages than the current get-Chrysler officials. In addition, many workers were unhappy that Chrysler no product guarantees for the US-Autofabriken has made over the duration of the new collective bargaining agreement beyond.
The members were faced with a difficult decision stood, said union President Ron Gettelfinger. It had "a sound and democratic debate on this contract." Now, the company must forward move, the market share increase and good cars in the United States.
Chrysler President Tom LaSorda welcomed the adoption of the collective agreement. It provides a framework for long-term improvement of competition in the production and brings the needs of the company and its employees. Daimler Chrysler was at the investment firm Cerberus Capital sold.
There has not been a defeat of a contract at a Detroit auto company since 1982, when Chrysler workers rejected a deal that did not fully restore concessions they granted when the company was close to bankruptcy in 1979.
“There’s no question this was a difficult set of negotiations during difficult times for the U.S. auto industry,” Mr. Holiefield said in the union’s statement.
The most difficult times, however, may be at Ford, the last company that will negotiate a new deal with the union.
Ford had pushed hard to go first in the negotiations, which would have given it the most leverage to devise a contract according to its needs. Instead, the company will now face pressure to accept the terms of the agreements at G.M. and Chrysler, a practice called “pattern bargaining.”
Ford is expected to follow the “essence of the pattern,” said David L. Gregory, a professor of labor law at St. John’s University in Queens. However, “there’s going to have to be more flexibility because of Ford’s predicament,” he said.
Ford is in the worst shape of the Detroit auto companies. It lost $12.6 billion in 2006 and does not expect to earn money in North America until 2009. It is in the midst of a revamping plan called the Way Forward, which will include closing plants and eliminating 30,000 jobs.
Last year, Ford borrowed $23 billion by pledging virtually all of its assets, including plants, divisions and even its blue-oval logo as collateral. It has also put its Jaguar and Land Rover divisions up for sale, and is expected to receive bids for them by Tuesday.
That money is meant to pay for its reorganization as well as the development of new products.
Even so, Ford officials say they can afford the contract’s primary feature, a health care trust that will assume responsibility for the company’s liability for current and retired workers’ benefits.
However, Ford officials are said to be reluctant to make the same guarantees for future investments that G.M. made in its contract, especially since it has not named all the plants it will shut as part of its makeover.
Chrysler also was reluctant to give specific assurances, and it saw its contract voted down at plants like its St. Louis South factory, where no decision has been made about future work.
In order to avoid the same turbulence, “the company may have to make extravagant promises that it really can’t fulfill,” Mr. Gregory said.
Still, the union goes to Ford on familiar terms. Mr. Gettelfinger came up through Ford’s ranks, starting with his first job at the company’s Louisville truck plant. He ran the union’s Ford department before becoming the union’s president.
The union’s chief bargainer, Bob King, was president of its biggest local in Dearborn, Mich., which includes the sprawling Rouge complex as well as the Dearborn assembly plant.
Given what happened at Chrysler, the leaders will move quickly to persuade Ford workers to support a deal, said Richard Block, acting director of the School of Labor and Industrial Relations at Michigan State University.
“They won’t make the same mistake twice,” he said.
Release link:
http://www.automobiledir.com/press
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