But he believes there are enough novelties for members to give him the OK. Schwartz said he answered many questions from members and offered a way to ensure equal pay for entry-level workers. He had only seen a 50-50 chance that the first treaty would be ratified. «We are pleased to announce that through your solidarity and sacrifice, we have made progress on all of these negotiating priorities,» UAW Acting President Rory Gamble and UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada wrote in a message to UAW members in the summary. «The contract presented to you today creates a model of continued growth and prosperity for UAW FCA and FCA members.» In addition to health care benefits, a $12,000 cap on profit-sharing was lifted. The cap was removed in GM`s contract; Ford was retired in 2015. The agreement would also increase the profit-sharing formula – from $100 – to $900 per 1% profit margin in North America. Older autoworkers would receive $9,000 in signed bonuses, and temporary workers would receive $3,500 in bonuses – just like Ford employees. After a 40-day strike, GM employees received an $11,000 bonus, while temporary workers received $4,500. In 2015, top Fiat Chrysler employees received $4,000 in bonuses and lower-paid full-time employees received $3,000.
Salary increases and lump sum payments follow the pattern of Ford and GM. The highest-paid artisans and production workers would receive basic wage increases of 3% in the first and third years of the agreement. They would also receive lump sum premiums of 4% in the second and fourth years. Lower-paid full-time workers in the manufacturing sector and temporary workers hired before 2007 would also receive the 3% wage increases. Temporary workers hired before 2015 would benefit from an improved pay schedule. On the ground, the summary — known as the «highlighter» — released by the union on Friday, refers to possible job losses at the Warren truck assembly plant, but gains at Sterling Heights Assembly. Only 103 jobs are to be added nationally through the four-year contract. Williams did not say which company the union wanted to negotiate with next.
Ford and GM have been waiting in the background since they extended their contracts indefinitely on Sept. 14 — the day the union`s contracts with all Detroit automakers were set to expire. The newly ratified contract of Ford Motor Co. includes investments of more than $6 billion that would create or maintain 8,500 jobs. The car manufacturer Dearborn will close the Romeo engine plant. GM plans to invest $7.7 billion in its facilities, which will create or maintain 9,000 jobs under the contract. It was also able to sell Lordstown Assembly in northeastern Ohio and shutter transmission equipment in Baltimore, Maryland and Warren. The latest agreement, like the rejected one, does not commit to substantially changing alternative working hours that include shifts of 10 hours or more. The author of the event indicates that the company and the union will meet within 60 days of the ratification of the treaty «to consider other alternative work plans». Like contracts with Ford and GM approved earlier this fall, all current production workers with higher service would earn the best wages until the end of the four-year period of the agreement. Temporary workers would have a path to full-time status and the highest wages; It is estimated that 3,800 employees would reach full-time status in 2020.
They would have a chance to be hired before the company hires street workers, according to the summary. There is no doubt that the actual contract — provided a full contract has been written — contains far more attacks on workers than the selfish highlights published by the UAW. As always, the union`s intention is to hold the votes as soon as possible without giving workers the opportunity to study the agreement they have signed. A Worker in Toledo told the WSWS that the workers did not receive a full copy of the 2007 contract until 2011, four years later. Second-tier workers will start at $17 an hour (nearly half the wage of first-tier workers) with the option of reaching a maximum of $25.35 an hour after seven years. By the end of the contract, newly hired workers will only increase to $22 per hour in 2015, while other workers will increase to $23 OR $24 per hour. As there was no guarantee of future wage increases, several workers who spoke to the WSWS noted that this meant the creation of several stages, each deserving of a different rate. According to the summary, «traditional [first-level] employees» receive a 3% wage increase (84 cents and 87 cents per hour) in the second and fourth years, as well as a 4% lump sum payment in the second and fourth years. Given the rising cost of living, this means that the real wages of first-tier workers will remain unchanged for the duration of the contract after ten years of declining real incomes. As with contracts with Ford and GM, craftsmen would also receive two $1,000 tooling allowances. Traditional employees would receive one-time contributions of $1,000 to 401(k) plans.
A $60,000 retirement package would also be available to employees hired prior to 2007 at the disused Mount Elliott Tool & Die, Marysville Axle, Belvidere Assembly in Illinois and a Mopar parts and distribution center in Milwaukee. The WSWS calls on workers to start forming such committees now to block the UAW`s efforts to get the deal through before workers have a chance to read and study the contract. Workers should insist on the right to have the contract for several weeks before a vote takes place. Committees should establish lines of communication—between different factories and between autoworkers and other sections of the working class in the United States and around the world—to launch a working class offensive against auto bosses and the entire ruling class. Senior employees would receive a lump sum bonus of $4,000 in advance, two general salary increases of 3% and two lump sum bonuses of 4%. The combined bonuses and wage increases would result in profits of $20,000 for a typical production worker over the course of the four-year contract. The United Auto Workers` «contract summary» for their deal with Fiat Chrysler (FCA) was leaked to the media on Friday. The goal of these «highlights» is to present the deal in the best possible light as part of the union`s efforts to get a vote passed as early as next week. However, the document makes it clear that the union and the company are conspiring in another historic attack on autoworkers. The deal came after General Motors Co.
filed a blackmail lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler, but not the UAW, last month, claiming its late CEO Sergio Marchionne orchestrated a plot, including bribes, to corrupt negotiations in 2009, 2011 and 2015 that harmed GM. Fiat Chrysler called the claims «baseless.» The release of the summary of a four-year deal follows Tuesday`s joint press conference between UAW President Dennis Williams and FCA chief Sergio Marchionne, during which the two men praised the «alignment of interests» between the union and the company and spoke of ending any «adversarial relationship.» The new agreement aims to take the corporate relationship to an even higher level, with the UAW playing the role of the entrepreneur and health insurance company tasked with intensifying the exploitation of the workers it claims to represent. The planned investments are greater than Fiat Chrysler`s $3.4 billion commitment in 2015, which is expected to create 103 jobs. In presenting a new interim contract described by United Auto Workers leaders as «one of the richest ever negotiated,» union president Dennis Williams appeared confident Friday that negotiators have ratified this time by their 40,000 Fiat Chrysler Automobiles members. Parts of the Fiat Chrysler contract could be used for model deals at General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co., according to Williams. ■Profit sharing: Unchanged from a failed contract: $800 per 1% of north AMERICAN profit margin. The new agreement gives second-tier workers in particular – now known as «progression» – a clear path to earning the same wages as experienced first-tier workers after eight years. They earn about $29 an hour or more, depending on the job, compared to $25.35 under the previously rejected contract. This is an increase of $10 per hour from its current cap of $19.28 per hour. ■ Signing bonus: unchanged from a failed contract: $3,000.
■ Wages: After the failure of the preliminary contract, workers would have started at $17 an hour and applied at $25.35. Under the new contract, they would start at $17 an hour and expire after an eight-year growth period at the same wage as traditional workers — about $29. Such gains could help the contract get approval from rank-and-file members, which experts say could be difficult. UAW FCA members rejected an initial tentative agreement in 2015. The UAW trumpets the company`s alleged commitment to invest $5.3 billion in the U.S. over the term of the contract, but that commitment is rotten from start to finish. The UAW is now trying to expand these operations to cover current workers with the new contract. The drive to cut health care costs is entirely in line with the Obama administration`s overall health care reform strategy, including the «Cadillac» excise tax, which aims to encourage companies to abandon or modify health care services that provide workers with higher levels of care. .