The United Auto Workers is inching back towards a new round of negotiations with Fiat Chrysler, following the rejection of a tentative agreement reached last month that included pay increases, but failed to meet the expectations of union members.
The scope of the rejection came into focus this week when the union disclosed that more than 80% of FCA’s 40,000 unionized employees voted during the ratification election and 65% voted no, meaning that more than the contract lost by more than 10,000 votes.
Shifting the 10,000 votes over to the “yes” column represent a tall order for union leadership. Both UAW President Dennis Williams and UAW vice president Norwood Jewel, who led the efforts with FCA, used social media channels to assure union members that they had gotten the message and were willing to address concerns raised during the ratification campaign.
Some observers have already suggested that the votes could be changed by offering a larger “ratification” bonus. However, the so-called 25% cap on the number of second tier workers remains a huge obstacle for bargainers on both sides of the table and tier two workers also are demanding a clear path to the first-tier wages.
“You have spoken and we heard you. We have been listening to your issues and concerns through your local union leadership,” Williams said in a note posted on the union’s Facebook page.
Williams did attempt to address key issues that were left open to interpretation during the voting because union leaders failed to offer additional information.
“We have real challenges. We all know that without investment and product there is no true job security. For someone to suggest we endorse products going to Mexico is just nonsense. We have been fighting NAFTA and other trade agreements every day and are still fighting,” he added.
(Ford averts strike as FCA ponders next move. For more, Click Here.)
“We know that health care is a challenge because of the rising cost of medical and pharmaceutical benefits. We have always fought to keep from paying premiums and we will continue to do so,” he said.
“We DO NOT want another VEBA or a Taft-Hartley for active auto members. We believe that healthcare should be provided by the employer. What we do want is to find a way to use our collective numbers and knowledge to be ahead of healthcare inflation rather than to just wait for insurance and pharmaceutical companies to simply hand over a bill to fill their own pockets.
(Click Here for more details about the now-rejected deal between FCA and the UAW.)
“That’s why we wanted to create an opportunity to work together, using centers of excellence, giving members a real choice for their families without passing on cost,” he said as offered a broader explanation of the health-care co-op than was originally offered in the “Contract Highlights” circulated by the union.
The deal is cause for concern at the Jeep assembly complex in Toledo, Ohio, where 80% of workers voted “no” because workers are uneasy about the pending changes in the product plan outlined by the company’s CEO Sergio Marchionne.
(For more on the apparent impasse at the Ford F-150 plant, Click Here.)
The FCA employees in Toledo have been concerned that the company could shift production of the Jeep Wrangler to another plant within the manufacturing system built by the old Chrysler Group. However, Toledo also now stands to lose its other key product, the Jeep Cherokee, according to Marchionne, who let the information out during an interview with a trade publication in the midst of negotiations. Williams and Marchionne now have to figure out a way to placate alienated Jeep workers.