UAW President Dennis Williams said talks with the automakers were "about where we should be" during Detroit's Labor Day parade.

With contract talks entering their final week, the United Auto Workers is holding off naming a target company for finishing off the talks by next week’s deadline, marking a significant change from past contract discussions.The union’s labor contracts with Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and FCA U.S. all expire at 11:59 p.m. Sept 14. Neither the union or the automakers have said much about the negotiations through the summer.

The union usually picks one company as the focus of the negotiations as the deadline approaches. The decision to name a target not only expedites the negotiations, but also allows both sides to clarify key objectives and issues.

During the Labor Day parade, workers handed out leaflets calling attention to the need to eliminate the two-tier wage system and both workers on the first and second tier a pay increase. Senior workers haven’t had a pay increase in 10 years, the leaflet noted, and have lost purchasing power in the last two contracts.

Williams also made it plain during his Labor Day speech that the movement of jobs to Mexico is very much a concern. “We should try to get Mexico to raise the standard of living of living of their people,” said Williams.

Williams also said the idea of setting up a common health-care pool is under discussion as the negotiations enter their final phase.

(UAW asks wokers to approve strikes. For more, Click Here.)

“You know, I think if the companies fail on the healthcare, it’s a missed opportunity and I think the medical community will agree with me on that,” Williams said Monday.

Earlier this summer, Williams had suggested creating an industry-wide health car trust or pool to cover the medical expense of the employees, retirees and dependents. The objective of the pool would be to use the industry’s purchasing power to push for lower prices on items such as prescription drugs.

(Click Herefor details about the problems with GM’s plans to import from China.)

The trust also could eliminate the possibility that the health-care plans at three automaker would not become targets of the so-called tax that under the Affordable Care act will be levied on the most expensive private health care plans in about two years.

Like other employers, GM, Ford and FCA U.S. have seen the cost of health-care benefits escalate and in some of the few public comments on the negotiations have confirmed Williams’ health care plan is part of the mix in negotiations this year. One of the big challenges, however, is getting all three companies to sign off on the formula for pre-funding an industry-wide trust.

(To see more about what the UAW’s negotiating strategy involves, Click Here.)

Mutli-employer pension and health and welfare funds have been around since the end of World War II, but their record is mixed, largely because some employers fail or go out of business, leaving the remaining employers and their employees to cover the expenses.