United Auto Workers officials pressed for ratification of a tentative contract with Chrysler LLC as local union members continued to vote on the agreement Friday. Meanwhile, low-level talks were proceeding at Ford Motor Co., the last of the three automakers in this year's contract talks.
At least five UAW locals representing more than 8,500 hourly workers in Michigan, Ohio, Missouri and Delaware were holding ratification votes Friday. Results weren't expected until late Friday or Saturday. A majority of Chrysler's 45,000 UAW members must ratify the tentative agreement before it can take effect.
Jerry Fogarty, who works at a Chrysler engine plant in Trenton near Detroit, said he planned to vote against the contract. Workers are angry and feel like the company is taking advantage of them, he said.
“It's what they're doing to us all around, taking benefits away and the other stuff you hear on the news,” he said. “I'm voting no and so's everybody else.”
On Thursday, the contract suffered its first major defeat, when a local representing 2,100 workers in suburban St. Louis rejected the labor pact. Union officials said workers at the Fenton truck plant were bothered by the contract's creation of “core” and “noncore” workers, with newly hired noncore workers being paid a lower hourly wage.
But not everyone opposes the deal. Workers at a Chrysler engine plant in Kenosha, Wis., voted overwhelmingly Thursday to approve the agreement. The UAW local in Kenosha represents around 800 workers.
The agreement was reached Oct. 10, the same day the union announced that General Motors Corp. workers had approved a similar contract. If workers vote it down, negotiators must go back to the bargaining table.
UAW leaders appear to be concerned about the fate of the contract. On Wednesday, UAW Vice President General Holiefield sent a memo to local union leaders asking all appointed union representatives to sign the memo endorsing the agreement.
“With teamwork in the leadership and solidarity in the ranks, we will prevail and our members will be best served,” Holiefield said in the memo.
Several labor experts said it was unprecedented for the UAW to ask its leaders to sign such a pledge.
“This sort of has a Stalinist feel to it. At the same time the stakes are really high. There's a certain rationale to the union making sure everybody's on board,” said David Gregory, a labor law professor at St. John's University.
UAW spokesman Roger Kerson said Friday that he had no comment on the voting process.
Talks at Ford aren't expected to ramp up until UAW leaders can turn their attention away from Chrysler. Subcommittee meetings were proceeding Friday at Ford, but UAW President Ron Gettelfinger was not yet involved in the negotiations, a person briefed on the talks said. The person said bargaining was expected to run through the weekend before intensifying next week. The person asked not to be named because the talks are private.
Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans declined to comment on the negotiations.
Like GM's, Chrysler's four-year contract would establish a union-run, company-funded trust to cover retiree health care. It also would establish lower wages for around 11,000 noncore workers who don't build cars or parts. In lieu of wage increases, it gives workers a $3,000 signing bonus and lump-sum payments each year. It also makes some guarantees for future work at U.S. plants, although those guarantees weren't as extensive as those given by GM.
