Will Auto’s Three-Tier Wages Be on the Table?

http://labornotes.org/2011/07/will-auto%E2%80%99s-three-tier-wages-be-table


Dissident auto workers picketed outside the Detroit Auto Show to bring attention to their demand for "equal pay for equal work." Photo: Jim West, jimwestphoto.com.

Nick Waun | July 13, 2011


Contract talks between the United Auto Workers and the Detroit Three will soon get under way, on the first post-bankruptcy contract for General Motors and Chrysler. Under terms of the federal bailout of both automakers in 2009, the UAW agreed to abandon striking as a negotiating tactic for 2011.

That leaves only Ford workers with the right to strike—because in fall 2009 they voted down a concessions contract similar to those at GM and Chrysler. It also leaves an uneven terrain for the parties to negotiate. Ford booked a $6.6 billion profit last year; GM $4.7 billion; and Chrysler posted a $116 million profit in the first quarter this year.

UAW negotiators have said they may abandon pattern bargaining this year, cutting different deals for each automaker. In the past they had always hammered out a deal with one manufacturer and used it as a template for the others.

One major concern, however, ties the interests of all auto workers together. The tiered wage structure that was instituted in the 2007 contracts remains. It was a concession that has proved disastrous to new hires and seniority workers alike.

With the looming likelihood that wage tiering will spread and become a permanent fixture within the Three, some auto workers are organizing to call for an end to the tiers, which they say kill solidarity among workers and lead to differential treatment.

FULL story at link.