February 1, 2008
UAW Local 412 leaders claim Chrysler LLC broke their new labor agreement when it laid off 119 workers Thursday. The union leaders vowed to fight the move, making it the first union local to go public with a labor disagreement since new contracts were signed last fall with the Detroit automakers, according to the Detroit Free Press.
More than 100 UAW members rallied at the local's Warren headquarters over the lunch hour Thursday, just hours after being told by the company that those salaried designers would be laid off indefinitely.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth 
at 10:16 AM | Permalink
January 29, 2008
Chrysler offered buyout and early retirement packages Monday to about 13,000 Detroit-area hourly UAW members as the automaker works to cut its overall hourly workforce by as many as 10,000 people, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Monday's effort aims primarily to reduce workers at support facilities that are seeing the domino effect of recent production cuts at the automaker's assembly plants.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:52 AM | Permalink
January 18, 2008
General Motors will offer retirement incentives to 46,000 of its hourly workers next month as part of a plan to cut labor costs, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner said during a presentation to analysts Thursday afternoon, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The analysts were encouraged by the move to shore up GM's sinking stock price and said they expected up to 20,000 workers to accept offers to leave.
That would allow the company to hire workers in nonassembly jobs at much lower cost under the UAW contract completed last fall, saving the company billions.
It wasn't known Thursday exactly who will be eligible or what will be offered. GM has 73,000 hourly workers.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:00 AM | Permalink
November 14, 2007
DETROIT -- United Auto Workers members have ratified a historic four-year contract with Ford Motor Co. that sets lower pay for some newly hired workers and puts the company's huge retiree health care debt into a UAW-run trust, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The UAW, which represents about 54,000 workers at Ford, said Wednesday that 79 percent of those voting favored the pact.
Workers at General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC already have ratified similar deals, with the contract winning at Chrysler by only a small margin. Unlike the other two automakers, there was no strike at Ford.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:26 AM | Permalink
November 6, 2007
DEARBORN, Mich. — Local union presidents and bargaining chairs have unanimously voted to recommend approval of a tentative four-year contract between Ford and the United Auto Workers, a union local official said Monday, according to USA Today.
Bruce Yates, bargaining chairman at Local 2000 at an assembly plant in Avon Lake, Ohio, said the deal was recommended by a voice vote.
A summary of the contract posted on the union's website shows that the Ford contract is similar to deals ratified by workers at General Motors and Chrysler.
Ford will contribute $13.2 billion to a union-run trust that will pick up much of the company's $22 billion in retiree health care liabilities. The company also will pay $2.2 billion for retiree health care until the trust takes effect in January 2010.
A typical UAW worker at Ford will get $12,904 worth of economic gains over the life of the contract, including a $3,000 signing bonus and lump-sum payments of 3% in the second year, 4% in the third year and 3% in the fourth year, according to the summary.
GM workers won similar bonuses with total gains of $13,056, while Chrysler workers are to receive $10,235.
The summary also said that the UAW won commitments from the company to build five flexible body shops at assembly plants, as well as a $200 million commitment to invest in new technology and equipment at stamping plants and substantial investments at Ford powertrain operations.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:28 AM | Permalink
November 5, 2007
UAW officials from local chapters that represent Ford workers nationwide are to meet in Dearborn today to learn the nitty-gritty details of the new tentative labor deal reached with the automaker, according to local union leaders cited by the Detroit Free Press.
A UAW spokesperson did not return calls for details about the meeting.
On Saturday, after more than 40 hours of round-the-clock bargaining, the two sides reached a deal on a new four-year labor contract to propose to workers, who will vote to ratify or reject the deal over the next week or so.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:53 AM | Permalink
October 31, 2007
With top UAW and Ford bargainers now in the final phase of negotiating a new labor contract, experts said the resulting deal could significantly alter the details of the high-stakes turnaround plan under way at the 104-year-old auto company, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Union leaders are expected to press Ford for product commitments that will keep their plants running and also to push for saving plants now slated for closure under Ford's turnaround plan.
Ford's so-called Way Forward turnaround plan currently calls for closing 16 factories, eliminating 44,000 jobs and revamping the entire lineup of Ford, Mercury and Lincoln vehicles in an effort to restore profits by 2009 to the company's crucial North American unit.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:46 AM | Permalink
October 30, 2007
Several UAW local presidents are hopeful that Ford and the union can reach a deal on a tentative contract by the end of the week, after the two sides reportedly made progress over the weekend, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Ford and the UAW have been bargaining in fits and starts since July. There were slowdowns in the talks when the UAW selected General Motors and then Chrysler as the target of national labor talks. Short strikes and then a period of ratification followed.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:44 AM | Permalink
October 26, 2007
DETROIT — The United Auto Workers union faces its final challenge today as one of the largest Chrysler plants votes on whether to ratify a proposed contract with company, according to USA Today.
About 700 of the 4,000 workers at the Belvidere, Ill., assembly and stamping plant are temporary employees.
A key sticking point for many of the 45,000 workers in the USA who would be covered by the Chrysler contract is that it doesn't contain provisions to hire temporary workers as full-time employees.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:05 AM | Permalink
October 24, 2007
Two UAW locals in Indiana representing about 5,300 workers voted down the proposed Chrysler national labor contract yesterday, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The rejections continued the up-and-down fortunes of the pact and raised the stakes for how four metro Detroit factories -- adding up to 20% of the total Chrysler membership -- will vote today on the landmark agreement.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:16 AM | Permalink
October 16, 2007
In a sign that the proposed Chrysler-UAW labor agreement might not be ratified as easily as the deal with General Motors Corp., the council of local union leaders that gathered Monday in Detroit did not vote unanimously to recommend ratification, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Unhappy local leaders voiced displeasure with the apparent lack of specific future product guarantees and the failure to move temporary workers into permanent positions, both of which are features of the GM contract.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:54 AM | Permalink
October 15, 2007
DETROIT (AP) -- Local union leaders voted overwhelmingly Monday to recommend approval of a tentative four-year agreement between the United Auto Workers and Chrysler LLC, paving the way for a vote by members, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said, according to the Associated Press.
Chrysler workers would see gains of $10,235 over the life of the agreement, according to a UAW booklet of contract highlights obtained by The Associated Press. Chrysler also would contribute $10.3 billion toward the creation of a union-run trust for retiree health care. The union said it reversed a company plan to sell its parts division and a parts-trucking operation as part of the negotiations.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 2:23 PM | Permalink
DETROIT -- A new four-year contract between General Motors and the United Auto Workers will transfer an estimated $46.7 billion worth of retiree health care liability from the company to the union, the company said Monday, according to the Associated Press.
That leaves GM with about $17.6 billion in retiree health care for salaried employees and other obligations, the company said. It was the first time GM has detailed its savings from the agreement.
"The 2007 national negotiations were in many ways the most complex and comprehensive that we've been engaged in," Rick Wagoner, GM chief executive and chairman, said during a conference call to explain the labor deal.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:15 AM | Permalink
October 12, 2007
DETROIT -- As they assembled cars Thursday, workers at Chrysler's Sterling Heights assembly plant were talking about their new labor contract, wondering if Wednesday's six-hour strike was enough to get a good deal from the company, according to the Associated Press.
Even as they waited to hear the details, industry analysts were predicting crosstown rival Ford will try to get more concessions than Chrysler.
Some workers were skeptical about job security promises, one worker said.
UAW leaders have yet to brief the rank-and-file on the tentative deal, which abbreviated the strike when it was reached late Wednesday afternoon.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:38 AM | Permalink
October 11, 2007
If this round of UAW contracts is indeed a transformational turning point that will make Detroit's auto companies competitive with their Asian rivals, there was bound to be drama and brinksmanship along the way, according to the Detroit Free Press's Tom Walsh.
And there was. Union workers struck Chrysler plants for about six hours Wednesday before UAW President Ron Gettelfinger announced a tentative contract deal at Chrysler just before 5:30 p.m. He also said workers at General Motors Corp. have ratified their contract, reached after a two-day strike, by a ratio of nearly 2-1.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:02 AM | Permalink
Chrysler and the UAW, after a 6- 1/2 hour strike involving 34,000 workers, reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract Wednesday, dramatically easing tensions throughout a U.S. auto industry bracing for the impact of a second major work stoppage against a Detroit carmaker in 2 1/2 weeks, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Details of the tentative deal were not immediately made public, as is tradition with UAW negotiations, though it was described as sticking with the pattern set by the landmark agreement reached Sept. 26 between the union and General Motors.
That deal, officially ratified Wednesday by rank-and-file members, ended a two-day strike against GM.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:00 AM | Permalink
October 10, 2007
DETROIT -- Thousands of Chrysler LLC autoworkers walked off the job Wednesday after the automaker and the United Auto Workers union failed to reach a tentative contract agreement before a union-imposed deadline, according to the Associated Press.
It is the first UAW strike against Chrysler since 1997, when one plant was shut down for a month, and the first strike against Chrysler during contract talks since 1985.
The UAW apparently is staying on the job at the five plants that Chrysler already had shut down this week because of sagging sales of some models, according to a person familiar with the walkout who asked not to be identified because the situation is in flux.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:39 AM | Permalink
Detroit -- With an hour left before the UAW-imposed deadline to have a new labor agreement with Chrysler, the automaker and union kept negotiating this morning, pushing through with talks that have lasted approximately 24 hours straight, according to the Detroit Free Press.
UAW President Ron Gettelfinger Monday told his members that if “unless we have achieved the basis for a tentative agreement” by 11 a.m. today the union “will be left with no choice but to commence a strike at all UAW Chrysler facilities.”
Tom LaSorda, a Chrysler president and vice chairman, is leading the automaker’s negotiations with Gettelfinger at the Chrysler’s Auburn Hills headquarters.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:01 AM | Permalink
DETROIT — The United Auto Workers says it knows it needs to help Detroit's automakers cut labor costs to reduce the gap in production expenses with Asian rivals. But as talks continue on new contracts, the union also is questioning why top executives at the automakers are paid what they are, according to USA Today.
"As much as workers do, workers can't do enough, and as much as executives get, they cannot get enough," UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said during last month's two-day strike against General Motors.
During talks with GM, the UAW pointed out that while the automaker has complained that hourly wages and benefits are dragging it down, it has continued awarding bonuses to its top executives.
GM CEO Rick Wagoner earned $9.3 million in salary and bonus in 2006, nearly double what he earned in 2005.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:51 AM | Permalink
DETROIT -- Progress was reported as contract negotiations between the United Auto Workers union and Chrysler LLC extended into Wednesday morning, but several key issues remained unresolved with a strike deadline a few hours away, according to a person who had been briefed on the talks, according to the Associated Press.
Negotiators worked all night at Chrysler's Auburn Hills headquarters, and discussions continued well into the morning, said the person, who asked not to be identified by name because the talks are private.
The UAW set an 11 a.m. deadline for an agreement or have about 49,000 workers leave their jobs at 24 U.S. factories and other sites.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:35 AM | Permalink
October 9, 2007
DETROIT - With just over a day remaining until a strike deadline, representatives of the United Auto Workers union and Chrysler LLC bargained into Tuesday morning in a bid to reach a new contract for some 49,000 U.S. factory workers, according to Reuters.
The union has given Chrysler a deadline of 11 a.m. EDT Wednesday and threatened to call the second national strike against a U.S. automaker in less than a month if a new deal on wages and benefits is not reached by then.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:10 AM | Permalink
October 5, 2007
Some 412,000 General Motors Corp. workers, retirees and their families will have fewer health and dental options, including higher co-pays and restrictions on doctor visits, under a tentative UAW contract, according to the Detroit Free Press.
UAW-GM workers and retirees still will have comprehensive health coverage, some of the best in the nation. And some benefits would be improved if workers ratify the contract in voting that stretches into next week.
But autoworkers wouldn't have as many choices in health and dental plans as they do now, according to a 24-page summary of contract provisions from the UAW.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:35 AM | Permalink
October 4, 2007
DETROIT - General Motors Corp will be able to replace roughly a quarter of its factory workers with lower cost hires under the tentative contract reached last week with the United Auto Workers union, according to Reuters.
The tentative contract identifies "in excess of 16,766" union-represented jobs that could be filled with new hires at roughly half the cost of current workers, according to a text of the document.
A majority of GM's 73,500 UAW-represented workers must ratify the proposed contract in a series of local votes expected to conclude next week.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 12:01 PM | Permalink
October 3, 2007
DETROIT-- Ford has something else to bring to the table in its ongoing contract talks with the United Auto Workers union: A dismal September sales report, according to the Associated Press.
Ford's U.S. sales plunged 21 percent last month as the automaker continued sharp reductions in sales to rental car fleets. Toyota Motor Corp. outpaced Ford for the month and for the January-September period, continuing its drive to replace Ford as the nation's No. 2 automaker in sales after General Motors Corp.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:41 AM | Permalink
October 2, 2007
The tentative contract between General Motors and the UAW could quickly wipe out more than half the gap in labor costs between GM and Toyota, pulling Detroit ever closer to its Japanese rivals, according to industry experts cited by the Detroit Free Press.
And the gap should shrink further -- to about 6% by one estimate -- as lower-paid workers replace more-senior union members over time.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:33 AM | Permalink
October 1, 2007
DETROIT -- The tentative contract between General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers would allow GM to close a plant each in Michigan and Indiana and possibly shut down several other facilities, according to a detailed copy of the agreement, according to the Associated Press.
The moves are the downside of job security pledges that the UAW won in the negotiations, including commitments for new products at 16 plants. About 74,000 hourly GM workers will vote on the pact starting this week, with a final tally to be done by Oct. 10.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:39 AM | Permalink
September 28, 2007
NEW YORK - General Motors Corp would be able to buy out as many as 24,000 UAW workers and replace them with lower-paid hires under a tentative contract agreement, according to Reuters citing a Wall Street Journal report on its Web site.
Such a potential buyout stems from a move by the union to expand the definition of non-production job classifications, the article said, citing management and union officials briefed on the pact.
GM will be able to hire at a much lower pay package janitors, landscape workers and material handlers, the report said.
It will also be allowed to define some entry-level production work and skilled-trade positions as a "non-core position," whereby they get paid about half or less of the $70-to-$75 an hour wage-and-benefit package traditionally given UAW members, the report said.
Those workers would have the opportunity later to transfer to the higher-paying production jobs, the report said.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:27 AM | Permalink
UAW local leaders are expected to meet in Detroit this morning to learn the much-awaited official details of the tentative agreement reached early Wednesday between the union and General Motors Corp., as UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and other union officials work to get the deal ratified, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Today is the first time the union will broadly distribute the specifics of a landmark deal that restructures retiree health care, introduces a two-tier wage system and eliminates wage increases for the duration of the 4-year contract. And the union's more than 73,000 GM workers are anxious to see the hard facts.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:23 AM | Permalink
September 27, 2007
With a tentative agreement in hand with General Motors, the UAW expects to move quickly to lock in similar labor contracts with Chrysler and Ford, according to the Detroit Free Press.
"I think the pattern bargaining is still very much in play," UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said shortly after announcing the GM deal. "We expect this will basically be the same agreement."
Gettelfinger suggested that the UAW may try to finish up talks with Chrysler and Ford simultaneously.
During the past two contract talks, it took the UAW between 20 and 40 days from the day the first tentative agreement was reached until deals with all three automakers were ratified. If that holds true, a deal with all three of Detroit's automakers could be wrapped up in a month.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:35 AM | Permalink
General Motors and the UAW bet their futures on a dramatic new labor agreement Wednesday that could ensure the survival of both -- making GM more competitive against its foreign rivals and helping the union stanch the loss of members, according to the Detroit Free Press.
More broadly, the proposed labor contract has the potential to shape a new Detroit auto industry that can compete on a more-level playing field with Toyota Motor Corp. and other foreign rivals not burdened by huge retiree legacy costs built up over the 20th Century. Also, the agreement has the potential to recast the UAW -- often dismissed as an industrial relic -- and give it more clout in the national health care debate.
The landmark feature of the UAW's tentative deal with GM is a controversial retiree health care trust that would shift tens of billions of dollars of retiree medical, hospital and prescription costs to the UAW and off GM's books.
The agreement, which ended the first national strike against GM in 37 years, will serve as the template for new agreements at Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Co.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:32 AM | Permalink
September 26, 2007
With a tentative agreement in hand with General Motors, the UAW expects to move quickly to lock in similar labor contracts with Chrysler and Ford, according to the Detroit Free Press.
“I think the pattern bargaining is still very much in play,” UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said this morning on WJR-AM radio. “We expect this will basically be the same agreement.” He said there could be some modifications for the individual automakers but “for the most part it will be a pattern agreement.”
Gettelfinger suggested that the UAW may try to finish up talks with Chrysler and Ford simultaneously.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 7:40 AM | Permalink
According to the Detroit Free Press, the tentative agreement between the UAW and General Motors Corp., a person briefed on the deal said, is expected to include:
• A retiree health-care trust, known as a voluntary employee beneficiary trust, or VEBA. While neither party would officially comment on the amount GM will pay into the VEBA, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said financial analysis of the plan indicates it should be solvent for 80 years. GM has pushed for the trust to relieve itself of the responsibility for more than $50 billion in retiree health care cost liability. People familiar with GM’s position have said they believe the automaker will pay less than $35 billion into the trust.
A two-tier wage and benefits scale under which new hires will make a lower hourly wage and receive a different package of benefits than current workers.
• A second tier of compensation for jobs that GM and the UAW have agreed are “non-core” production jobs. This is expected to include many positions in which workers do not have their hands on a vehicle in the assembly process.
• To relieve the pain of the wage reductions for the workers currently assigned to jobs defined as “non-core” in the tentative deal, the automaker is expected to offer a targeted special attrition program.
• No wage increases.
• A $3,000 signing bonus.
• A lump-sum bonus in the last three years of the four-year contract.
• The possibility of the automaker maintaining the same level of its U.S. manufacturing workforce.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 7:38 AM | Permalink
DETROIT — The United Automobile Workers union and General Motors reached a landmark agreement early today, ending a two-day strike, according to the New York Times.
The key provision of the historic new contract is a health care trust that would get G.M.’s massive liability off its books.
The deal was announced by the company and the union in separate statements. The U.A.W. had walked out on G.M. on Monday morning, but production will resume this afternoon.
G.M. said the tentative agreement was reached at 3:05 a.m. Eastern. The U.A.W. recessed the strike and said if the contract was not ratified, workers could return to picket lines. The agreement included a memorandum of understanding to establish an independent health care trust, as well as other changes to the national agreement.
G.M. said implementation of the trust would be subject to court approval, as well as a review by G.M.’s accounting for the trust by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The memorandum apparently establishes the principle of the trust, and allows the two sides to complete its details later. Analysts had predicted the union and the company might have to take that step, because of the complexity of such a trust.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 7:31 AM | Permalink
September 25, 2007
DETROIT - Negotiators for the United Auto Workers union and General Motors Corp have resumed bargaining on Tuesday while more than 73,000 factory workers participated in the second day of the first national strike against the automaker in more than 30 years, according to Reuters.
GM workers walked off the job on Monday after 10 weeks of contract talks seen as crucial to GM's survival as it restructures money-losing U.S. operations and tries to free itself from a health-care obligation of more than $50 billion.
A GM spokeswoman said the two sides began talking around mid-morning. Meantime, workers at a GM facility in Warren, Michigan, could be seen picketing early on Tuesday with signs reading "UAW on Strike."
Many analysts predicted that a protracted strike against the largest U.S. automaker was unlikely and the two sides could still settle on a deal on wages and benefits that delivers many of the sweeping concessions GM has sought.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 1:04 PM | Permalink
The United Automobile Workers union wielded its most potent weapon against General Motors yesterday, sending 73,000 workers to picket lines in its first national strike at G.M. since 1970, according to the New York Times' Micheline Maynard.
Union officials said they were left no choice but to strike because General Motors was unwilling to accept the union’s demand that it protect workers’ jobs and benefits.
For General Motors, its unyielding stance reflects its decision to accept the short-term pain of a strike at 80 facilities in 30 states to achieve its goals: a lower cost structure and more flexible work force to better compete against surging Japanese automakers like Toyota and Honda.
“This really is a defining moment,” said James P. Womack, an expert on manufacturing and co-author of “The Machine That Changed the World,” which studied the plants of Japanese automakers in the United States. “G.M. has backed away from defining moments for generations. And now somebody there has finally said, ‘We have to do this because it’s a new era.’ ”
The length of the walkout may hinge on the answers to two crucial questions: How long can the U.A.W. afford to stay out? And how long can G.M. endure a strike? While an indefinite strike would pose risk to both sides, each has made a calculated decision that it has more to gain by standing tough.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:58 AM | Permalink
The strike might be on, but Wall Street doesn't believe that an agreement between GM and the UAW to create a new retiree health care fund is completely off, according to Detroit Free Press columnist Susan Tompor.
GM stock held its own. GM closed at $34.74 Monday, down 20 cents a share. Ford Motor Co. closed at $8.48 a share, up 25 cents a share. GM has requested that the UAW take control of a new retiree health care fund to pay out future liabilities estimated at $50 billion in exchange for a onetime payment into the fund from the automaker.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:48 AM | Permalink
Let's take UAW President Ron Gettelfinger at his word when he says, as he did Monday after striking General Motors Corp., "There's not one person on this stage ... that wanted to see these negotiations end in a strike. Who wins in a strike?"
Gettelfinger, of course, blamed GM for being unreasonable.
But wasn't he also conceding, in a way, that the UAW is in a predicament? It's an institution with declining influence, fewer and fewer friends and one big weapon it can ill afford to use without destroying itself in the process, according to Detroit Free Press columnist Tom Walsh.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:45 AM | Permalink
The strike many believed never would happen shut down General Motors plants nationwide Monday, casting uncertainty on whether the U.S. auto industry can get the kind of revolutionary changes it says it needs to compete, according to the Detroit Free Press.
An end to the first nationwide UAW strike in 31 years will depend on resolving the key union issues of wages and benefits, job security and investment in U.S. facilities and vehicles, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger indicated at a news conference Monday.
He repeatedly said that the strike was not related to talks over a landmark retiree health care trust on which the two parties are believed to have agreed to a general framework.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:42 AM | Permalink
DETROIT -- If the United Auto Workers strike against General Motors Corp. lasts longer than a week or two, it could cost GM billions of dollars and stop the momentum the company was building with some of its new models, according to several industry analysts, according to the Associated Press.
A strike of two weeks or less would not hurt GM's cash position and would actually improve its inventory situation, Lehman Brothers analyst Brian Johnson said Monday in a note to investors. But a longer strike would be harmful, causing GM to burn up $8.1 billion in the first month and $7.2 billion in the second month, assuming the company can't produce vehicles in Mexico or Canada, Johnson wrote.
Initially, the strike wouldn't have much impact on consumers because GM has so much inventory, the analysts say. The company had just under 950,000 vehicles in stock at the end of August, about 35,000 less than at the same time last year.
But Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis for J.D. Power and Associates, said even a short strike could hurt GM because its new crossover vehicles - the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook - are selling well and in short supply.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:40 AM | Permalink
September 24, 2007
In the first national UAW strike since the 1970s, General Motors Corp. workers across the nation walked off the job this morning after negotiations over a new labor contract reached an impasse, according to an update by the Detroit Free Press.
Thousands of UAW members who work for GM walked off the job at 11 a.m. today — 9 days after a 4-year contract was set to expire. The contract had been extended hour by hour, until late last night when the UAW issued the strike deadline.
UAW Ron Gettelfinger said during a noontime press conference that the union will continue to negotiate with GM while workers picket.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 4:32 PM | Permalink
The UAW striking General Motors, especially if the walkout lasts more than a few hours, is a dangerous move with all sorts of awful implications for the company and the future of the UAW to say nothing of Michigan's economy, according to the Detroit Free Press' Tom Walsh.
General Motors, while making good progress on its turnaround the past two years, is still losing money in North America and could still suffer enormous damage from a walkout of any length.
And what of the UAW itself, which has been touting its efforts to organize the nonunion U.S. plants of Toyota Motor Corp., other Asian automakers and growing suppliers such as Denso. By striking GM, the union provides fodder to the anti-union campaigns at all those companies, which play upon workers' fears that strike-happy U.S. labor unions will scare companies into closing U.S. plants and cutting jobs en masse.
Meanwhile, Michigan's economy labors under the dual burden of its reliance on the Detroit Three auto companies and their declining market share, exacerbated by the longstanding reputation of Detroit and Michigan as a stronghold of truculent, overpaid and inflexible labor unions.
Forget about all gains in productivity and recent cooperative deals between labor and management to cut health care costs and simplify work rules. The old anti-business, pro-labor image is a hard one to shake. Any nationwide automotive strike, no matter how brief, sends the wrong message to growing companies looking for the best place to invest.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 4:28 PM | Permalink
DETROIT — Members of the United Automobile Workers union walked off the job today at General Motors plants across the country after union leaders and company officials failed to reach an agreement in contentious talks on a new contract, according to the New York Times.
It is the first national strike by the union since 1970. That strike, also against G.M., lasted for two months. The U.A.W. last struck G.M. at two plants in Flint, Mich., in 1998, in a strike that went on for seven weeks.
The union’s president, Ron Gettelfinger, said the union would go back to the bargaining table today. “This is nothing we wanted,” he said. “Nobody wins in a strike.”
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 1:20 PM | Permalink
UAW members started picketing at Hamtramck, Lansing and Orion and other locations when the union’s 11 a.m. deadline for a new labor agreement with General Motors passed, according to the Detroit Free Press.
At 1:40 a.m. this morning, the UAW officially announced that it had set an 11 a.m. strike deadline, which coincides with scheduled lunch breaks at some plants. The two sides continued to negotiate this morning.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:27 AM | Permalink
September 21, 2007
So, after days and days of going round and round about how to get a $50-billion commitment for future retiree health care off General Motors' balance sheet and into a union-run trust fund, the UAW and GM have punted this vexing issue off to the side while they discuss other matters, according to Tom Walsh of the Detroit Free Press.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:24 AM | Permalink
September 19, 2007
DETROIT -- As General Motors and the United Auto Workers enter their fifth day of bargaining under hour-by-hour contract extensions Wednesday, the unique issues that each of the Detroit Three automakers faces could make it difficult to use an agreement with GM as a pattern contract for Ford and Chrysler, according to the Associated Press.
All three companies are grappling with dwindling market share, high health care costs and too much factory capacity, but Ford may negotiate temporary wage cuts, for example, because its financial situation is the most dire, and Chrysler's status as a private company could affect its contract.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:29 AM | Permalink
September 18, 2007
While leaders of the UAW and General Motors Corp. may essentially agree on the solution to long-term health costs, a contract agreement remained elusive through Monday evening, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Analysts and workers say the reasons are threefold:
• It's extremely complicated.
• The stakes are fantastically high.
• It is going to be difficult to get rank-and-file members to ratify it.
People briefed on the matter indicate the two sides are down to the final multibillion-dollar decisions on matters such as establishing a retiree health care trust -- known as a voluntary employee beneficiary association, or VEBA -- and job-security issues, including commitments for plant investments in the United States.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:24 AM | Permalink
DETROIT — As General Motors and the United Auto Workers returned to the bargaining table Monday, auto shares rose on optimism the two sides were closer to a critical agreement that could take billions in retiree health costs off GM's books, according to USA Today.
At the plants, workers were less certain as they spent a third day without a contract.
Negotiations resumed around 11 a.m., GM spokesman Tom Wickham said. Negotiators were making progress but still had a lot of work to do, according to a person who was briefed on the talks. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:59 AM | Permalink
September 17, 2007
DETROIT -- Bargainers for General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers resumed contract negotiations Monday amid optimism that they are getting closer to reaching a critical contract agreement, according to the Associated Press.
Negotiations resumed about 11 a.m. Eastern, GM spokesman Dan Flores said. The talks had stopped about 3 a.m. after a marathon 16-hour session.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 2:21 PM | Permalink
DETROIT -- Bargainers for General Motors and the United Auto Workers took a break early Monday amid optimism that they are getting closer to reaching a critical contract agreement, according to the Associated Press.
Negotiations came to an end just before 3 a.m. after a marathon 16-hour session on Sunday and Monday, said GM spokesman Tom Wickham.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:30 AM | Permalink
September 14, 2007
The UAW has selected General Motors Corp. to be the lead negotiating partner, also known as a strike target, in the year's national contract talks, leading workers, analysts and labor experts to believe the union has agreed -- in principle -- to establish the retiree health care trust that the nation's largest automaker so desperately wants, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The union has agreed to indefinite contract extensions with Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC, those companies acknowledged.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:14 AM | Permalink
September 13, 2007
Tensions are ratcheting up as the deadline nears on the labor contract negotiations between the UAW and the Detroit automakers, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Around 1,000 UAW members rallied on the west lawn of Chrysler headquarters in Auburn Hills Wednesday to show discontent with their local negotiations, which are running concurrent with national talks. In particular, they oppose the automakers' demands that contract workers replace some union members.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:08 AM | Permalink
September 12, 2007
DETROIT — Negotiations between the United Auto Workers and Detroit automakers are intensifying as both sides try to settle on a new contract before the current four-year pact expires at midnight Friday, according to USA Today.
After Friday, the risk of a strike increases. Negotiators worked through last weekend attempting to hammer out a new contract, but deliberations are focusing on a complex health care deal that might take longer to hash out.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:53 AM | Permalink
August 9, 2007
That Cerberus Capital Management is keeping Tom LaSorda in a leadership role at Chrysler is an indication of how important he is to the ongoing labor negotiations with the UAW, according to industry watchers cited by the Detroit Free Press.
Robert Nardelli being officially named Monday the No. 1 executive at Chrysler and LaSorda being demoted to the No. 2 position by the Auburn Hills automaker's new owner comes at a particularly awkward time for the company, which already is engaged in contract talks with the union to craft a new agreement. The agreement is to replace the current one, which expires in September.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:20 AM | Permalink
July 26, 2007
Business leaders and politicians are talking about making Michigan the country's 23rd state with an open-shop or right-to-work law, according to USA Today.
Right-to-work is the phrase union opponents use to describe what unions call open shops. Under such laws, union membership is not required to get a job, and workers can choose whether they want to be in a union, even if a company is unionized.
That makes it harder for unions to organize new members in already-unionized plants and makes it more difficult to bring unions to new sites. Ultimately, unions say, it means more non-union workers earning lower non-union wages.
Posted by at 11:19 AM | Permalink
July 25, 2007
To many outside the auto industry, getting rid of the so-called jobs bank — a job-security program that continues to pay union workers almost their entire salaries even if there isn't work for them — seems like a no-brainer.
But as talks on new contracts open between the Detroit automakers and their biggest union, the United Auto Workers, it appears the jobs bank may not be a negotiating issue this time around, according to USA Today.
The automakers are focused on slashing health care costs, and the union has made it clear that job security is not something it will give up easily.
Posted by at 12:39 PM | Permalink
July 11, 2007
The United Auto Workers could end up taking responsibility for billions of dollars of retiree health care costs if Detroit's Big Three automakers can make the costly and complex transfer enticing for the union in this summer's contract talks, according to USA Today.
A deal might mirror Goodyear Tire and Rubber's recent union contract, under which Goodyear agreed to invest $1 billion into a fund controlled by the United Steelworkers to cover current and future retirees' health care expenses. Goodyear pushes a $1.2 billion liability off its balance sheet while the steelworkers' union gains an asset that protects retired workers' benefits and can't be touched by creditors should Goodyear ever file for bankruptcy.
Posted by at 3:32 PM | Permalink
June 29, 2007
Delphi Corp. workers in Flint and Saginaw -- which rely on the auto-parts maker for more than 3,000 jobs -- expressed resignation, reluctance and relief as they voted on a historic contract proposal Thursday, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The pact would reduce wages for veteran workers, secure some jobs, lose thousands of others and propel Delphi from bankruptcy.
But what matters more to the 17,000 UAW workers at Delphi is what the proposal means for their futures, whether they are closing in on retirement or starting their careers.
Posted by at 9:44 AM | Permalink
