July 20, 2011 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
Reminder: Union meeting is Wednesday at 1 pm, 3 pm and 15 minutes after the longest first shift line time.
From Reuters: The United Auto Workers is talking with "a lot of" foreign automakers about representing their U.S. plants' hourly workers and could see a dealby year-end, top union officials said. UAW President Bob King has staked his reputation and the union's future growth on winning votes to represent workers at foreign auto plants, which are predominately in the southeastern United States. He declined to say how many or with which companies the union is negotiating. "To our pleasant surprise a lot of companies have agreed to confidential discussions with us. What they'll lead to, I don't know," King said in a telephone interview on Tuesday."Some days I'm worried, some days I'm frustrated. Are we putting too much hope into these discussions? I don't know, but we're continuing them and we feel like we're making some progress," he added. The UAW has been actively trying to organize workers at Volkswagen's new Chattanooga, Tennessee plant but the comments by King were the first indication that the UAW has managed to open talks with a several foreign auto companies, which are called "transplants" in industry parlance. While not identifying any of the companies, UAW secretary-treasurer Dennis Williams said this week the union was making "great inroads" in its organizing efforts. "You're going to see before the end of the year a campaign or a plant being organized," he said. On Tuesday, King said the UAW's willingness to cut deals with the U.S. automakers and to work to ensure their success had caught the attention of the foreign companies. "All of these companies have been surprised and impressed by the role we played in the turnaround of the American companies, about the ongoing relationship with the American companies, about the culture we're building of creative problem solving and really a joint approach," he said. Scoring that first deal might break the logjam for the union, King added. "We definitely feel that if we can get one done ... that will open the door wider in the other locations," he said. "All these companies recognize unions in their home countries and we don't want Americans to be second-class citizens." While King said he understood why the foreign automakers resisted the UAW's efforts in the past, he is more focused on the present. "We're saying to them, 'Why would you spend millions and millions of dollars to try and keep a union out when that union can add value,’” he said. The improvements in vehicle quality and corporate profitability by the U.S. automakers only helps the UAW's arguments, King said. "I was down organizing in the South when we didn't have the best quality or we didn't have the best product," he said of the union-represented Detroit automakers. "It's a lot more fun when we can talk to workers and say, 'Look at what UAW members are doing.'"
From the Detroit Free Press: UAW President Bob King is preparing to enter negotiations with GM, Ford and Chrysler next week with a clear bargaining position: No new concessions. King said he understands domestic automakers' need to maintain competitive labor costs. Still, UAW members have made sacrifices in recent years, King said, and the union plans to resist any effort to raise members' health care contributions or cut wages and benefits. "I've said a number of times, there is no justification for any further concessions in this round of bargaining," King said. Under the 2009 deal brokered with the Obama administration's automotive task force, the union agreed to keep GM's and Chrysler's labor costs competitive with U.S. plants operated by Asian automakers. The UAW also agreed not to strike Chrysler or GM through 2015. In return for keeping labor costs competitive, King said it is reasonable for the union to ask for a higher wage for entry-level workers as they replace older workers who retire. He also wants permanent seats on the companies' boards of directors, no increased contributions to health care insurance and tweaks to a profit-sharing formula so workers share more in each company's financial success. "It doesn't do our members any good if we raise fixed costs, and that means our vehicles cost more and we lose market share and then job security is in jeopardy again," King said. Still, King said the UAW wants higher wages for entry-level workers. It is a very legitimate goal that everybody working in the auto industry should be at a middle-class standard of living," King said. "Entry-level, for a family of four, is barely there." King also downplayed concerns that UAW leadership is not in tune with members who are expecting to win back concessions such as annual cost-of-living increases. "Of course people would like to see raises and increases in wages," King said. "But more than that, they want long-term security."
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