UAW, Chrysler Reach Tentative Agreement
The UAW and Chrysler Group LLC reached a tentative four-year agreement this morning that will create more than 2,000 new jobs and invest $4.5 billion to retool and upgrade plants to produce new and upgraded vehicles.
The agreement with Chrysler follows recent settlements with Ford and General Motors. UAW President Bob King says:
This tentative agreement, coupled with the new agreements at General Motors and Ford, brings more than 20,000 new jobs to communities across America. Together with the jobs created in suppliers and other businesses supported by auto manufacturing, a total of 180,000 jobs will be added to the country’s battered economy. Through collective bargaining and working together with the domestic automakers, we have shown that cooperation and collective bargaining work.
UAW, GM Reach Tentative Agreement
The UAW reached a tentative agreement with General Motors Co. (GM) late last night. The union says the new pact, which covers 48,500 employees, achieved some major goals, including significant investments and products for GM plants, creating good new U.S. jobs and bringing back to this country some overseas manufacturing.
UAW President Bob King said in a statement:
First and foremost, as America struggles with record levels of unemployment, we aimed to protect the jobs of our members – to guarantee good American jobs at a good American company. And we have done that. This contract will get our members who have been laid off back to work, will create new jobs in our communities and will bring work back to the United States from other countries.
Details of the agreement are being withheld until UAW members have had the opportunity to review it. While the union’s website does not provide specifics of the tentative agreement, it does list several highlights:
- –The pact protects the retirement plan, which GM had sought to weaken.
- –The new deal maintains members’ health care benefits and made some significant improvements.
- –The agreement also includes improved profit sharing with far greater transparency than in the past.
Chrysler Repays Bridge Loan, Adds Jobs
Today, six years ahead of schedule, Chrysler Corp. repaid the last of its $8.5 billion in loans the Obama administration made to the troubled carmaker in April 2009 to help keep Chrysler afloat and save the jobs of tens of thousands of Chrysler workers and workers in the supply chain.
In less than two years, the financial aid from the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) helped Chrysler emerge from bankruptcy and keep workers on the line. The loan to Chrysler drew heavy criticism at the time—especially from those who said the government had no business investing in jobs. Said President Obama in a statement today:
Supporting the American auto industry required making some tough decisions, but I was not willing to walk away from the workers at Chrysler and the communities that rely on this iconic American company. I said if Chrysler and all its stakeholders were willing to take the difficult steps necessary to become more competitive, America would stand by them, and we did.
In a conference call this morning with former Democratic governors, Jennifer Granholm (Mich.) and Ted Strickland (Ohio), UAW President Bob King said the Obama administration’s willingness to invest in Chrysler and GM with TARP funds shows a major difference between Democratic and Republican strategies on manufacturing.
We’re bringing many manufacturing jobs into this country because Democrats under the president’s leadership understand the importance of manufacturing to the U.S. The Republican Party is doing nothing for the manufacturing base.
Read more at Talking Points Memo.
UAW: U.S. Cars on the Road to Success
Higher profits and new fuel-efficient models have put American-made cars back on the road again—with the help of taxpayers and the workers who have worked closely with the Big Three automakers to ensure their success.
In July, Ford posted a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit of $2.6 billion—some $1 billion more than analysts predicted—with promises of more earnings in 2011. Chrysler, which cut its net loss to $197 million from January through March, expects to announce its second-quarter earnings in mid-August. General Motor’s (GM’s) U.S. sales for June rose 11 percent from the year-ago period and the company is again building popular cars.
UAW Reaches Tentative Agreement on NUMMI Closing
The UAW today announced it has reached a tentative agreement on the planned closing of Toyota’s New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) plant in Fremont, Calif. The agreement covers some 4,500 members of UAW Local 2244.
The tentative agreement will be presented to members of the local in the coming days. Details are being withheld pending a ratification vote by the membership. Voting dates have not yet been scheduled.
The Gift America Needs Most: Manufacturing
In Columbus, Ohio, a 5-year-old girl jumped onto Santa’s lap last month and asked if he could give her dad a job as an elf.
Mike Smith, who works the Santa station at the Polaris Fashion Place in Columbus, asked why, the Wall Street Journal reported. The little girl in the Dora the Explorer sweatshirt responded:
Because my daddy’s out of work, and we’re about to lose our house.
Happy Holidays, America!
The gift this country needs most this holiday season is an economy built on a solid foundation, one that will provide middle class, family-supporting jobs now and into the future.
Electrical Workers Member Wins Chevy in Sportsmen’s Alliance Drawing
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The next time Kent Erickson, a member of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 26 in Washington, D.C., heads out for fishing on the Chesapeake Bay or deer hunting in the Maryland mountains, he can haul his gear in a brand new Chevy Silverado.
Erickson is the winner of a drawing for all members of the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA) held earlier this summer. The truck giveaway was one of several ongoing promotions USA runs for its nearly 20,000 members.
General Motors and its Chevrolet division are partners with the USA, the hunting, fishing and conservation club for union members, retirees and their families, and the Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP).
‘The Last Truck’: HBO Looks at Plant Closing Through Workers’ Eyes
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Just two days before Christmas 2008, workers at the General Motors assembly plant in Moraine, Ohio, watched their livelihood and the lifeblood of their town dry up as their plant shut its doors for good. A new HBO documentary, “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant,” which first airs on Labor Day, offers poignant personal testimony about the impact of the decline of American auto manufacturing on this tight-knit Ohio community.
While the layoffs of the 2,500 workers and 200 management staff was bad enough, thousands more of their friends, neighbors and family would lose their jobs as businesses that serviced the plant—suppliers, restaurants, retail stores—were forced to close for lack of business.
In the documentary, “Popeye,” a toolmaker, simply states what the decline of manufacturing means to him and to the American Dream:
My grandson will have a worse life than I had.
HBO’s press release about the documentary points out the real extent of the damage from the closing:
…the GM workers lost much more than jobs, including the pride they share in their work and the camaraderie built through the years. To the natives of Moraine and the greater Dayton area, General Motors wasn’t just a car company—it was the lifeblood of the community.
Retirees Were Promised Health Care—GM Deal Breaks the Promise
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Workers and retirees have suspected for years that companies often use bankruptcy as an excuse to cheat retirees out of their promised benefits. Now, three unions say that’s exactly what the U.S. Treasury Department is doing to tens of thousands of General Motors (GM) retirees.
The IUE-CWA, United Steelworkers (USW) and the Operating Engineers (IUOE) plan to appeal a bankruptcy judge’s approval late last week of a plan to allow the new GM, which now is owned primarily by the taxpayers, to take away health coverage from 55,000 retirees at some GM and GM Delphi plants.
In a series of newspaper ads, the unions urge workers to call the White House at 202-456-1414 or send an e-mail to www.whitehouse.gov and ask President Obama to restore the GM retirees’ health care benefits. Click here to learn more about IUE-CWA’s campaign to save the retirees’ benefits.
The ads feature retirees like Debra Turner (see ad above), a GM retiree who suffers from multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. At 51, she’s not eligible for Medicare. Until now, her GM health care paid for most of the $3,400 a month in medicines she has to take.
550,000 NYC Workers Win Pact to Save Jobs, and More Bargaining News
More than 550,000 New York City active and retired workers reached an agreement that will delay and reduce layoffs, and more updates from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 900 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
Multiple Unions, New York City: More than 550,000 New York City active and retired workers, represented by unions in the Municipal Labor Committee, including AFSCME, AFT and many other unions, reached an agreement for city workers to contribute more to their health care in exchange for delayed and reduced layoffs.
UAW, General Motors: UAW locals nationwide ratified a new agreement with General Motors and the U.S. government. ”UAW members have once again stepped up to make necessary and painful sacrifices to preserve U.S. manufacturing jobs,” said UAW President Ron Gettelfinger. The agreement laid the groundwork for GM to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in court. The federal government takes a 60 percent ownership stake in the company during its restructuring, and UAW will emerge with a 17.5 percent ownership through shares of the new GM held by the retiree medical VEBA trust. UAW agrees not to strike until 2015 in the new agreement.
UAW, Volvo Mack Trucks: UAW members ratified a master agreement with Volvo Mack Trucks, which includes the establishment of an independent VEBA trust that will assume responsibility for providing health care to retired workers. The trust must be approved by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, a process that can take up to 12 months.
IUE-CWA, GE: Some 2,000 General Electric workers at Appliance Park in Louisville, Ky., represented by IUE-CWA Local 761, voted to accept a pay freeze until the current agreement expires in June 2011. In exchange, GE will add some 100 jobs at the Louisville complex. “Hopefully, this gets the ball rolling and starts bringing in these jobs by the end of the year,” said local President Jerry Carney.
AFSCME, Manatee County, Fla.: Manatee County, Fla., School District bus drivers, cafeteria workers and other school support workers with 21 years of seniority, represented by AFSCME, will see a 1 percent pay increase next year under terms of a new agreement.
IBEW, Boston Globe: Technical services workers at the Boston Globe, represented by the Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 103, ratified an agreement to help the financially struggling newspaper company. Members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) are set to vote on similar proposals.
IATSE, Eugene, Ore.: Eugene, Ore., city workers, represented by International Association of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 675, agreed to a three-year contract with no pay raise in the first year starting in July, with a 2.5 percent pay increase in the following fiscal year. In the third year, either the union or the city will be able to reopen talks on wages and benefits.
WORK STOPPAGES AND JOB ACTIONS
HPAE-AFT, Englewood Hospital: In New Jersey, 700 nurses, represented by the Union of Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE-AFT), launched pickets outside of the Englewood Hospital and Medical Center after management locked out workers and hired replacements. HPAE-AFT offered to rescind their strike notice, but management said they had to honor their contract with the company, US Nursing, supplying the replacement workers.
NEGOTIATIONS
USW, MeadWestvaco: Workers represented by the United Steelworkers (USW) at MeadWestvaco’s paper mill in Covington, Ky., are set to resume negotiations after a two-year hiatus in bargaining talks.
Disclaimer: This information is being provided for your information only. As it is compiled from published news reports, not from individual unions, we cannot vouch for either its completeness or accuracy; readers who desire further information should directly contact the union involved.
