• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • The Rearview Mirror: Triumph of the Bean Counters
  • VW Teases U.S. Version of ID.Buzz — and Here’s What We Know About the Electric Microbus
  • Make Sure You're Good to Go for the Holiday Weekend
  • Hyundai, LGES Building $4.3B EV Battery Plant in U.S.
  • New Vehicle Sales Set to Rise, Used Vehicle Sales Expected to Drop in May
  • Ford Teaming with Tesla to Make Charging Even Easier
  • Q&A: VinFast CEO Van Anh Nguyen Talks Tough Reviews, Tough Learning Curve, Bright Future
  • Stellantis Invests in new Lithium-Sulfur EV Battery Tech
  • The Safest Cars For Your Teenage Driver
  • Honda Teams with Aston Martin in Formula One Return
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
      • Feeder
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • A Week With: 2023 Electrified GV70 AWD Prestige
    • A Week With: 2023 BMW XM
    • A Week With: 2023 Mercedes-Benz GLS 580 4Matic
    • First Drive: 2024 Audi Q8 e-Tron Prestige
    • First Drive: 2024 Volvo C40 Recharge Single Motor
    • A Week With: 2023 Ford Bronco Everglades Edition
    • First Drive: 2024 Kia Seltos
    • A Week With: 2023 Volvo V60 Cross Country B5 AWD
    • 2023 Kia Sportage PHEV X-Line Prestige AWD
    • First Drive: 2023 VinFast VF 8 City Edition
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automobiles > UAW Taking Heat for Newest Version of FCA Contract

        UAW Taking Heat for Newest Version of FCA Contract

        Critics of first deal already harping about second tentative pact.

        Joseph Szczesny
        Joseph Szczesny , Executive Editor
        Oct. 09, 2015
        UAW President Dennis Williams told FCA workers that he got the message, but critics are already picking apart the second tentative deal with FCA.

        As the United Auto Workers’ top officers prepare to present a second tentative contract with FCA U.S. to the union’s Chrysler Council, they are already beginning to run into opposition from union members who scuttled the first contract.

        The proposed agreement, which is supposed to set the UAW’s pattern for bargaining at General Motors and Ford, is expected to include a larger pay increase for second-tier workers. The new wage proposal would gradually move second-tier workers to close to $29 per hour over eight years. The raise represents a 53% bump for workers now getting the second-tier maximum of $19 per hour.

        Union News!

        UAW President Dennis Williams has said the new deal addresses many of the concerns workers had about the rejected contract.

        First-tier workers also will get the 3% raise in the first and third year of the contract, as specified in the first contract, which was overwhelmingly rejected. The new contract proposal, however, does not include re-instatement of the cost of living allowance that was dropped from the union’s contract with the Chrysler’ Group, FCA’s predecessor, during its 2009 bankruptcy. The proposed contract also doesn’t include any pension improvements.

        The profit-sharing formula was also modified slightly to reduce payouts to pay for wage improvements and the language in the new tentative agreement was clarified to specify that the current health-care benefits remain intact.

        The retention of the two-tier system, the lack of COLA, vague language around health-care were all factors in the defeat of the first tentative agreement by an overwhelming margin of more than 10,000 votes.

        (Last-minute deal averts strike at Fiat Chrysler. For more, Click Here.)

        Meanwhile, the union has been unable to silence critics of the union’s bargaining strategy, noting that it has still hasn’t eliminated the wage gap. Roughly 43% of FCA’s unionized workers are assigned to the second tier “or in progression” under the contract language and a key element of the FCA’s bargaining strategy has been to protect the gap between first and second tier workers.

        Critics of the contract also have noted that the failure to bring second tier pay up to parity would have the effect of permanently lowering the wages paid unionized workers as workers hired before 2007 quit or finally retire and are replaced by lower paid workers.

        Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive officer of the Trans Atlantic automaker, has said one of his objectives in this year’s negotiations was to lower the base wage and increase the variable compensation. It appears he fell short of his objective.

        Moreover, it appears union bargainers and Marchionne’s acolytes in the FCA’s executive ranks have underestimated the depth of the alienation of the company’s blue-collar workers, observers said.

        (For more on why the original FCA-UAW contract was rejected, Click Here.)

        The alternative work schedules, lost seniority and an arbitrary attendance policy also have led workers to use the contract ratification process as way to register a protest over working conditions that have grown more onerous in their eyes.

        Critics of the first agreement are already circulating fliers and Facebook posts, urging union members to “vote no until they get it right.”  Among the key demands are an end to two-tier system, reinstatement of COLA and time and half pay for any work after 8 hours as well as the dismantling of the alternative work schedules that FCA use to pump up production.

        Worker were also angered by Marchionne’s flippant comments about shifting all of the FCA’s passenger car production to Mexico, a move that could come back to haunt union members in the future.

        (UAW seemed likely to target profitable Jeep plants first. Click Here for more.)

        Critics of the new tentative contract are also preparing to challenge any effort by union leaders to speed up the ratification voting on the second tentative agreement.

        How to Care for Your Car

        Cheap Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice

        Best Extended Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice
        Recently Published

        The Rearview Mirror: Triumph of the Bean Counters

        May 27, 2023
        VW tease for ID Buzz three row

        VW Teases U.S. Version of ID.Buzz — and Here’s What We Know About the Electric Microbus

        May 26, 2023
        Hyundai and LGES handshake for GA battery plant REL

        Hyundai, LGES Building $4.3B EV Battery Plant in U.S.

        May 26, 2023

        3 responses to “UAW Taking Heat for Newest Version of FCA Contract”

        1. DAVE TUULA says:
          October 9, 2015 at 8:20 am

          Another goose egg laid by the UAW. I encourage all union brothers and sisters to give a thumbs down to this.
          If they really wanted it passed then 3 things must happen: reinstatement of the COLA, sweeten the signing bonus by no less than 1,000.00 and eliminate the ABC work schedule.
          These things might make the difference.

          Reply
        2. GT101 says:
          October 9, 2015 at 11:36 am

          Is Marchionne willing to return his total compensation for the past 5 years and work for $25/hr. with no OT, stock benefits, or other compensation, etc. for the next 5 years? Bad management at GM and Chrysler is what caused their bankruptcy problems. Why should Marchionne receive ~$20 Million in annual compensation now for getting FCA back into a cash poor situation that required stopping the necessary development and introduction of new FCA models? The new contract may be meaningless if FCA is sold to some other company.

          Reply
        3. Chris Holman says:
          October 17, 2015 at 7:17 am

          Remember what Marchionne told us last spring “The Americans will have to get used to GENTEEL POVERTY” he meant it.

          Reply

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2023
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: