The current labor contract between the UAW and the Detroit Big 3 automakers was set to expire last night at 11:59pm but all parties have agreed to an extension on the current contract as the union negotiates with Ford, General Motors and Chrysler.
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Both General Motors and the Chrysler Group (led by parent company Fiat SpA) announced this morning that they had reached an agreement with the heads of the UAW to extend the current contract as the groups work towards a new deal for the union auto workers. Ford Motor Company came to a similar agreement on Tuesday in their talks with the UAW, although none of the three automakers or the UAW has announced how long the extension will last. Some expect that the negotiations between the UAW and both GM and Chrysler could end at the same time as reports indicate that the new contract talks have progressed at similar rates.
Today’s statements from General Motors, Chrysler and the UAW were all brief but with no possibility of those companies’ workers going on strike, negotiations have seemingly been less hectic than things have been for Ford Motor Company. Due to the bailout process for GM and Chrysler, their UAW workers agreed to waive their right to strike but since Ford did not enter into a bailout deal with the feds, their workers were not subject to the no strike clause. As we headed into the September 14th end date to the current Ford-UAW contract, Ford workers around the country – overwhelmingly in favor of going on strike. However, Ford has seemingly dodged that bullet for now with the UAW agreeing to an extension while talks continue.
The sticking point with Ford and the UAW has seemingly become the demand for raises along with annual cost of living raises. Ford hopes to avoid the mandatory annual raise as those can hurt the company in bad years, instead offering large bonuses to the workers based on the annual success of the company. This theory of the workers receiving bonuses when the company is doing well seems like a great idea, especially since they are talking about fairly significant bonuses, but at the same time the workers want to have more access to raises. In addition to the raise issues, UAW boss Bob King is pushing for large signing bonuses that reportedly could run anywhere from $5,000-10,000 per worker.
TorqueNews will continue following the labor talks in Detroit, bringing you any news as it becomes available!
Other Labor News:
Ford UAW members draw closer to striking
Two more UAW Ford plants vote in favor of strike
UAW posts strike pay policy for Chicago Explorer, Taurus plant workers
Chrysler UAW workers caught drinking, smoking pot during lunch – for the third time
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