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GM, UAW Kick Off 2015 Contract Talks
General Motors Co. and the United Auto Workers union officially opened contract negotiations on Monday, optimistic they can reach agreement without a strike.
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General Motors Co. and the United Auto Workers union officially opened contract negotiations on Monday, optimistic they can reach agreement without a strike.
Labor talks with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles begin today, followed by Ford next week. All three carmakers have contracts with the UAW that will expire on Sept. 14.
UAW President Dennis Williams reiterates the union's primary aims are to equalize pay rates and improve job security. The UAW agreed in 2007 to a two-tier wage scheme to aid the industry as GM and Chrysler began to slide into bankruptcy.
Williams wants to shrink the resulting gap of nearly $10 per hour in pay sometimes for the same job now that the industry is posting solid profits. But GM and Ford complain their hourly wage rates are still roughly $8 higher than those at nonunion Japanese car plants in the U.S.
FCA, which has a much higher proportion of new hires at second-tier wage levels, is eager to maintain its cost advantage.
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