GM, Ford Use 'Veiled Threat' Of Imports To Gain Leverage With UAW

DETROIT (Bloomberg) -- GM and Ford are contemplating building cars with lower-paid workers in Mexico and China, a strategy that would improve their hand in contract talks as the UAW seeks higher pay.

General Motors is weighing a plan to import the Buick Envision SUV, now built and sold only in China, to the U.S., people familiar with the matter said. Ford Motor Co. is shifting production of its Focus and C-Max small cars from Michigan to outside the U.S., a person familiar with its plans has said. Mexico is a possible destination.

The automakers and union are in their final weeks of talks to replace four-year contracts that end Sept. 14. Previous pacts let the companies hire lower-paid workers and spurred U.S. production and jobs after Ford’s restructuring and the 2009 bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler.

Speculation about shifting work abroad may give the companies leverage as the UAW seeks raises for some workers for the first time in a decade.

“It’s a veiled threat to the workers,” said Gary Chaison, a professor of labor relations at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. He said the automakers’ message is: “If you ask for too much, we can take the work out of the U.S. So, give us a reason not to shift more production overseas.”

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