Great car with all the bells and whistles.
Posted on 09/14/2015 2:09:48 AM PDT by equaviator
The United Auto Workers union will accelerate its bargaining efforts with Fiat Chrysler Automobile in the hopes of hammering out a template for a new labor contract the other two Detroit auto makers will match.
The choice of Fiat Chrysler's FCA US unit as the target company for shaping the new contract, disclosed by the union on Sunday, kicks off an intense negotiating period expected in part to focus on a two-tier wage system that has financially benefited auto makers but rankled workers.
The UAW's current contract with Fiat Chrysler, General Motors and Ford Motor expires on Monday, but labor talks between the union and Detroit's auto makers routinely extend beyond that deadline.
"All three companies are working hard toward a collective bargaining agreement," UAW President Dennis Williams said in a statement. "All three companies have been working with UAW bargaining teams toward a collective bargaining agreement and continue to do so."
A UAW spokesman declined to comment further.
Mr. Williams and other union leaders want wage increases for the UAW's roughly 140,000 rank-and-file members at Detroit's three auto makers. Most haven't received base pay raises in a decade. Specifically, they want to eliminate a controversial two-tier wage system that pays newer factory hires about $9 an hour less than veteran employees for doing the same assembly-line work. Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne has publicly called for ending the pay structure.
That quirk came about in 2007, when auto makers were on shakier ground. The financial crisis forced GM and Chrysler to undergo government-brokered restructurings in 2009, a fate that Ford avoided by taking on massive debt a few years earlier. Union leadership has signaled the next deal shouldn't be one for givebacks amid a booming U.S. auto-sales landscape on track to be the best since 2001 that is bolstering finances at GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler.
Fiat Chrysler is the smallest and least profitable of the Detroit car makers and has the highest percentage of lower paid workers, which has given it a $9 to $10 wage advantage over GM and Ford. About 45% of Fiat Chrysler's workers are new hires being paid the lower wage. GM and Ford capped their new hires at 25%.
Kristin Dziczek, director of the industry and labor group at the Center for Automotive Research, said the Fiat Chrysler pick indicates the union recognizes the auto maker is in a different business position than Ford and GM.
"It is a game theory of ratification," she said. "If you go to Fiat Chrysler first, you can get a pattern GM and Ford aren't going to choke on."
The UAW has made preparations to strike, as it often does, if negotiations break down.
The car companies, meanwhile, will be pushing to keep labor costs in check, hoping to avoid additional fixed expenses that could become a drag on earnings during a downturn.
Mr. Williams and Mr. Marchionne hugged at the ceremonial handshake in July officially kicking off labor negotiations.
Both have been vocal on not only restructuring pay but also dealing with how the auto makers buy health care for their workers. The UAW is looking to restructure the way the Detroit car makers purchase health care in an effort to generate savings and help members avoid higher out-of-pocket costs.
Bargainers at GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler have said health-care costs have been rising at an unsustainable rate and could climb even higher with a new federal tax going into effect in 2018. Combined, the three car makers will spend more than $2 billion on health care this year for union-represented workers.
The Detroit three have for decades faced higher labor costs compared with foreign rivals, but concessionary deals made in prior negotiations have helped level the playing field.
In the past, the union would often pick a so-called "strike target" to negotiate with first, and then picket the company if a deal couldn't be reached. More recently, the union has opted to bargain simultaneously with all three and then choose one to lead.
Union members last year voted to raise membership dues to expand its $600 million strike fund, and in August, UAW locals across the country held strike authorization votes, receiving overwhelming approval for a work stoppage if talks were to break down.
GM and Fiat Chrysler workers also will have the right to strike for the first time since 2007. A no-strike clause adopted as part of bankruptcy agreements barred workers from one during talks in 2011.
Mr. Williams, however, has said he views a strike as a last resort and a failure on both the union and companies' part.
Fiat's Mr. Marchionne is a formidable negotiator and has in the past gotten directly involved in talks, sitting right at the bargaining table. Often, chief executives leave it up to the company's bargainers to work out details. Mr. Marchionne has yet to change his current plans, which has him appearing at the automotive show in Frankfurt next week.
Yeah, I’ve seen one just like that on Telegraph. However, the driver seems to like tailgating anyone going less than 10 MPH over the speed limit!
hmmm... so, will the company eliminate compulsory dues deductions from paychecks as part of the negotiations?
is the union so deeply ingrained in the Italian Fiat that right to work makes no difference?
Great car with all the bells and whistles.
That would dodge the requirement.
Your new Dart looks good for a 4-door. My cousin had a ‘71 Duster. It had a stock 340 4-speed and he won a trophy with it at Motor City Speedway.
Another Freeper made a great point. If the current contract is “extended” as opposed to replaced open shop would not apply. I don’t know legally how it would have to be structured, if just saying it’s an extension is enough.
You mean, besides Gubmint Motors?
You are wasting your money if you buy a Dodge truck, or Chrysler product for that matter. Buy a Toyota Tundra, made in San Antonio Texas. Better all around. Plus you are NOT funding the UAW. Hard thing for me to state since we used to be Chrysler/Plymouth dealer.
Yep.
Marchionne at Fiat is an indecisive boob. He’ll likely bring down the whole of Chrysler-Fiat even without any UAW troubles. The only profitable vehicles they have are Ram trucks and Jeeps. They’re having to sell off Ferrari to raise cash for the rest of the operation.
It’s the wrong time for a big corporation to ask the EU and the USA to become a permanent welfare recipient.
Back in ‘07 I had an ‘06 Chevy Impala in for service and the dealership set me up with an ‘06 Dodge Avenger through Enterprise Car Rental for the duration. The interior was terrible, I hated the ergonomics of it and told them so when I was done with it.
Those were the days!
Actually, the days before those days were the days!
My first car was a black 1955 Ford Crown Victoria with a 250 Police Interceptor engine with 3 on the floor.
It was one of the fastest cars in the county.
I would disagree with that. I had a 2010 RAM 1500 and I loved it. In 2012, I got into an accident, with my son in the back seat. The truck was totaled, but we both walked away without a scratch. When I buy another truck, it will be a RAM.
Who is stupid enough to buy a car from a UAW plant?
I dunno, the government?...Vegetarians?...Bruce (The Boss) Springsteen?
Liberal blacks?
I suppose so. See post #2.
This is a topic from September.
The head of Fiat-Chrysler (also has Alfa Romeo, Masarati) is dumping small- and mid-sized sedans and moving car production out of the US into Mexico, enraging the poor long-suffering UAW.
PSA Peugeot Citroen (#2 in Europe) is probably the best fit, despite a few drawbacks, because of their lack of presence in the US, access to other American markets — all of these things that other prospective co’s don’t need.
Fiat Chrysler, Despite Some Ugly Warts, Could Be an Attractive Merger Partner
By Doron Levin | 02/22/16
http://www.thestreet.com/story/13466738/1/fiat-chrysler-despite-some-ugly-warts-could-be-an-attractive-merger-partner.html
Marchionne reshapes Fiat Chrysler for merger or sale
Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press Auto Critic 9:07 a.m. EST February 21, 2016
http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/mark-phelan/2016/02/20/marchionne-reshapes-fiat-chrysler-merger-sale/80520970/
If fuel prices remain low, the manufacturers have a serious business problem.
The govt is mandating ever increasing fleet fuel mileage levels.
With $1.50 gas real people are buying pickups and SUVs.
I expect some screaming deals on small cars and hybrids over the next few years.
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