The old ways are gone-forever
Tough cuts coming for UAW
That is the message coming down from the top brass at the UAW as they prepare to work out a new union contract with General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Daimler/Chrysler Corp.
Times have changed and union leaders are reminding workers that coming up with a labor contract with the domestic auto workers won't be in cut and dried like in the past.
According to "The Detroit News," the UAW has told its workers to expect a sacrifice as it comes up with a new labor agreement by September.
This year's talks are expected to be much different than before, taking into consideration all of the trials the American automakers have faced.
GM and Ford have announced a number of job layoffs, buyout packages and even plant closures.
Daimler/Chrysler, which has already been knocked out of the Big Three by Toyota in sales, is preparing to unveil its restructuring plan next month.
One of the biggest challenges the automakers have had to tackle has been the rising cost of healthcare.
UAW officials have said if the auto industry is going to survive then the union will have to change with it.
We tried reaching UAW Region 1-C President Duane Zuckswerdt. He was unavailable for comment
UAW prepares for sacrifices
Labor leaders are talking to the rank-and-file about sacrifice and the need to help Detroit automakers' become competitive again.
They're warning of difficult negotiations ahead and reminding members of the dire financial straits and intense pressure the companies face.
In a meeting last month, UAW Vice President Cal Rapson told union leaders from General Motors plants around that country that "the way we conducted business in the past when General Motors was very profitable, would have to change," according to a recent note sent to plant workers in Warren, Ohio.
The early messages come in stark contrast to the past, when the UAW insisted on gaining ground on wages and benefits with each new contract.
Ford Motor Co. has begun talking with its union chiefs on a monthly basis, even though the formal start of negotiations is months away.
And DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group will enter the 2007 talks from a markedly different position than three years ago, when the company was riding high. Chrysler was the healthiest of domestic automakers until posting a disastrous $1.5 billion loss in the third quarter.
"If we don't make a profit, we don't have a plant," said James Kaster, president of UAW Local 1714, which represents workers at a GM small car factory in Lordstown, Ohio.
His plant has a program under way to educate workers on why GM's financial success should matter to them.
The negotiations will begin in earnest this summer with the goal of agreeing on a new contract when the current labor pact expires in September.
Last time around, in 2003, the UAW was able to gain ground on wages and benefits and held onto key provisions like the jobs bank, which allows laid off workers to receive full pay.
This year, unprecedented pressures are driving the change in tone. The domestic automakers combined lost nearly $7 billion in the third quarter of
2006. GM and Ford have massive restructuring programs under way. Chrysler is preparing its restructuring, expected to involve job cuts, plant closings and the elimination of production shifts.Foreign carmakers continue to eat into the Big Three's U.S. market share, with Toyota surpassing Ford in the last two months of 2006.
Leaders at GM have said they will focus on cutting its annual health care tab of $5 billion. GM's North America President Troy Clarke said last week that retiree health care, a linchpin of the UAW's benefit package, was an area of particular concern.
Already in the past year, GM and the union agreed on landmark changes to health benefits designed to cut GM retiree health care liability by about $15 billion and cut annual health care costs by about $3 billion.
Across town at Ford, union leaders and the company have been talking for months. The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker posted the deepest losses of the Big Three in the third quarter, finishing $5.2 billion in the red.
Adding to the pressure on the UAW is the growing number of nonunion auto jobs in the United States, as American auto factory jobs steadily moved south and foreign automakers build more plants here.
Many of those factory jobs come with good pay and reasonable benefits, despite the lack of representation for its workers, a fact that's not going unnoticed by the UAW.
"Unfortunately, I do believe there's going to be concessions given," said Skip Dziedzic, president of UAW Local 1866 representing a Delphi Corp. plant in Oak Creek, Wis. "If the U.S. auto industry is going to survive, it's going to have to change and we're going to have to change with it."
-- The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause. Who at the best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly. T.R. April 10, 1899