While the Fiat Chrysler deal will be the starting point for negotiations with GM and Ford, the UAW will probably seek an even more lucrative deal from them than smaller, weaker FCA.
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UAW officials announced Thursday that GM will be the next of the Detroit Three from which it will seek a new four-year pact.
At GM, workers will want to base the profit-sharing formula on operating profit, not net income, McAlinden said.
The agreement covers nearly 4,000 salaried employees as well as 36,000 hourly workers at Fiat Chrysler.
It’s the second time in a month that Fiat Chrysler’s 40,000 union members voted on a contract. The UAW is expected to soon name the company with which it negotiates next.
The approval at Fiat Chrysler lets the union move on to getting tentative contracts with General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co.
“We are expecting to make gains for our members”, said Jerry Dias, national president of Unifor.
All workers who ratify the deal will also receive a signing bonus.
Under the current contract, those less senior workers earn between $17 to $24 an hour, while veteran autoworkers earn at least $28 an hour and get a pension as well as retiree health benefits.
Demond Clayton, a 29-year-old worker at Fiat Chrysler’s sport-utility factory in Detroit, said he voted yes on both this agreement and the earlier one, noting that pay raises are substantial for workers, especially when compared with other industry sectors.
The company is now profitable, but not almost as much as GM or Ford. The UAW, which remains the largest shareholder of GM stocks, has a direct financial incentive to increase the exploitation of workers, boosting corporate profit and shortening the life expectancy of retired workers. But “in four years if they try to do a wage freeze”, Crum said, “all we have to do is vote no then”. GM and Ford (NYSE:F) have fewer of those workers, and that could offset the cost of similar deals. Cathy Clegg, GM vice president of manufacturing and labor relations, will lead the management team, while Cindy Estrada, vice president of the UAW’s GM department, will be on the union’s side with UAW President Dennis Williams. The company also discounted prices on certain 2015 models to clear the way for new products.
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“They could see that turning down the agreement worked at FCA and do the same thing”, Wheaton said.
