UAW Fought Back And Got A Better Deal........

The UAW got a decent deal...Good for them.  

It is rare to see unions working the way unions are supposed to work.  The workers had a voice, and used that voice to get a better deal.  That is rare in 2015 but good to see. 

The issue was a few years back (when the Big 3 were on life support) the companies demanded (and received)  concessions from their workers.  

On wages workers agreed that the next generation (yet to be hired) could get screwed over. Current employees wages would be protected but all the new union employees would get paid less.  That is a common Union practice.....Screw the people who are not yet there who do not have a voice.  The NFL did this same thing as did the NBA.  The new rookies all get screwed.

But a few years later all the new employees now have a vote (and a voice) and they don't like getting paid a lot less then the older employees.  So in the UAW case they fought back and got a better deal.  

It is nice to see.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/25/business/new-uaw-contracts-land-best-terms-in-over-a-decade.html?_r=0

But the strategy collapsed on Oct. 1, when workers at Fiat Chrysler overwhelmingly rejected a proposed contract that did not eliminate the divisive two-tier wage system.

“We showed we aren’t quite as naïve as they thought,” said Scott McGinnis, an entry-level worker at a Fiat Chrysler plant in Michigan. “After that first agreement, a lot of people were insulted.”

It was a stunning rebuke of the company and the U.A.W. leadership, and completely altered the course of the talks — and ultimately the cost structures of G.M., Ford and Fiat Chrysler.

Since then, all three companies have agreed to contracts that provide a defined path for every worker to earn the top union wage of $29 an hour.

The richer contracts also underscore how healthy the Detroit companies have become since G.M. and what was then the Chrysler Corporation slipped into bankruptcy and needed government bailouts to survive just six years ago.

Sales of new vehicles in the United States are expected to hit 17 million this year, the most in a decade, and possibly exceed that in 2016. In that environment, the time was ripe for workers to cash in.

Ms. Dziczek estimated that over the life of the four-year agreements, average hourly labor costs — including health care and other benefits — will rise about 5 percent at Ford, 9 percent at G.M., and 19 percent at Fiat Chrysler.

But even with the wage increases and a combined payout of nearly $1 billion in signing bonuses for union workers, the automakers are still well positioned for strong earnings, and able to invest in plant improvements and technology.

interviews with workers and union officials show that anger on the shop floor over two-tier wages was the deciding factor in the changes in the contracts.

On Sept. 15, Mr. Williams emerged from talks with Fiat Chrysler’s chief executive, Sergio Marchionne, with an initial contract proposal that would have raised lower-tier workers’ pay to $25 an hour, from $16 to $19 an hour, over the life of the deal.

“We won tremendous gains,” Mr. Williams said at a news conference, in which he hugged Mr. Marchionne for their collective effort.

But a few days later, a top U.A.W. bargainer, Norwood Jewell, was heckled and booed when he presented the tentative agreement to workers at Fiat Chrysler’s big Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio.

A video of the meeting, posted on a socialist website, illustrated the clash. Mr. Jewell was shouted down as he defended terms of the agreement, with one worker yelling out, “Are you working for us or Sergio?”

When the contract went to a vote, about 87 percent of the 4,800 workers in the plant voted against it. Other factories also turned it down by big margins. When the final results came in, 65 percent of Fiat Chrysler’s 37,000 workers had rejected it.

“There was a lot of anger because people had an expectation that since Chrysler was in the black again, selling vehicles and making profits, it was our time,” said George Windau, a veteran worker at the Toledo plant.

The head of the plant’s union local, Bruce Baumhower, said his members were upset that the proposed deal left entry-level workers well short of the top union wage.

“They wanted to see a way to eliminate that,” he said. “But what they got left them about five dollars short.”

After the defeat, the U.A.W. leadership reopened talks with Fiat Chrysler.

The union also hired a public relations firm, BerlinRosen, to improve communications with workers on the U.A.W.’s website and Facebook pages.

Within a week, a new deal was struck between the union and Fiat Chrysler with a crucial concession — lower-paid workers would reach the top wage scale after eight years of service. The new agreement was then ratified by a vote of Fiat Chrysler workers, and used as a template for the contracts at G.M. and Ford.

But without the lopsided defeat of the first proposal, the two-tier system would have stayed in place for another four years.

“I was kind of surprised it went down because I didn’t think we were so united,” said Ms. Rau, who has worked for six years at the company’s Jeep plant in Detroit.

Now, her pay has jumped to $24 an hour from $19, and she will reach the top wage before the contract ends. “I can actually pay my bills,” she said. “And have a little bit left for me.”Ms. Dziczek estimated that over the life of the four-year agreements, average hourly labor costs — including health care and other benefits — will rise about 5 percent at Ford, 9 percent at G.M., and 19 percent at Fiat ChrysleThe increases are partly based on the number of entry-level workers at each company, and the impact that progressive pay increases will have on overall cBut even with the wage increases and a combined payout of nearly $1 billion in signing bonuses for union workers, the automakers are still well positioned for strong earnings, and able to invest in plant improvements and technology.