The United Auto Workers will negotiate a new contract first with General Motors Co. over the next week and a half after membership at all three Detroit automakers overwhelmingly approved strikes, if necessary.
The automakers have been negotiating with the UAW for a month and a half. The announcement Tuesday that GM will be the “lead company” means that the contract ratified by the GM employees will lay a framework for contracts negotiated with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Ford Motor Co.
Employees at each of the automakers independently voted to authorize the strike, with the following totals in support:
- FCA, 96%
- Ford, 95.98%
- General Motors, 96.4%
The UAW and GM have had a strained relationship since roughly a year ago when CEO Mary Barra announced the company would “unallocate” four U.S. plants, which would pull products out of the plants and effectively idle them. The products most of those plants produced will be discontinued, though the fate of some models like the Cadillac CT6 sedan remains unclear. The UAW has objected to that move, and has sued the company.
Negotiations are intensifying as some members of the union are angered by new and expanding revelations from a years-long federal investigation into UAW alleged corruption during the 2015 contract negotiations. Most recently, the sitting UAW president’s house was raided by federal agents.
The current UAW contracts with the Detroit Three expire at 11:59 p.m Sept. 14. The union could strike any of the three companies as soon as those contracts expire, though the UAW also has the option of extending its contracts with the automakers until new contracts are ratified by membership.
“Mary Barra said from the outset of these talks that we will stand up as we tackle a changing industry. We are ready to stand strong for our future,” UAW President Gary Jones said in a statement Tuesday. “We are focused. We are prepared and we are all ready to stand up for our members, our communities and our manufacturing future.”
GM said in a statement, “We look forward to having constructive discussions with the UAW on reaching an agreement that builds a strong future for our employees and our business.”
The UAW’s decision to lead with GM wasn’t surprising, according to Kristin Dziczek, vice president of industry, labor and economics at the nonprofit Center for Automotive Research.
“GM is arguably more difficult because of the unallocated plants as well as the underutilized facilities throughout the GM system,” she said. “They’ve got all the issues they have at the other companies, and on top of that they have underutilized facilities…”
Experts have said GM’s plans announced in November make GM a strike target and make for a particularly prickly negotiating period as the union tries to prevent the automaker from permanently closing any plant. In May, the automaker announced plans to sell its Lordstown Assembly plant in Ohio to electric-vehicle start-up Workhorse.
The UAW also is suing GM for its plans to “unallocate” Lordstown, Warren Transmission and Baltimore Operations before the current contract expires. The Detroit-Hamtramck plant is not included in the lawsuit because its production was extended through January 2020, after the current contract expires. Union leaders, who balked at the announcement by GM and Workhorse, are expected to demand a new vehicle for Lordstown during contract negotiations this fall.
Still, it could be advantageous for GM to go first in negotiations. While the move by the UAW essentially makes GM a strike target, companies prefer to negotiate first, Dziczek said. The first contract are historically more tailored to a company than those that negotiate second or third.
“They are pattern agreements, but they are not cookie cutter agreements,” Dziczek said. “The first one sort of sets the broad economic terms of what the agreement would be.”
Meantime, GM workers and workers at the other Detroit automakers have approved a strike, if needed. The strike vote does not mean there will be a strike, and UAW workers have traditionally overwhelmingly voted in favor of a strike in years past.
“No one goes into collective bargaining taking a strike lightly. But it is a key tool in the toolbelt as our bargaining team sits across from the company,” said Jones. “Ultimately, the company holds that destiny in their hands as they bargain. Clearly the UAW stood up for them in a very dark time, now that they are profitable it is time for them to stand up for all of us.”
Twitter: @Ian_Thibodeau
ithibodeau@detroitnews.com
Read or Share this story: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2019/09/03/uaw-approves-strikes-moves-forward-gm-negotiate-first-contract/2196048001/