DETROIT — Just days after Fiat Chrysler autoworkers soundly rejected a contract proposal, union negotiators reached a new deal with the company that would give entry-level workers larger raises, effectively providing them a path to equal pay with longtime employees.þþThe proposed four-year deal, announced early Thursday, just after a strike deadline, would shrink the gap in wages between veteran workers and the entry-level employees who make up more than 40 percent of the company’s hourly work force.þþThe agreement increases the highest wage for entry-level employees to $29 an hour from $19 — a significant gain over the top wage of $25 proposed in the rejected deal — on par with veteran workers who will be making just less than $30 an hour by the end of the contract.þþDetails of the agreement were not released by the United Automobile Workers union of Fiat Chrysler. But the raises were confirmed by people familiar with the deal.þþFiat Chrysler and U.A.W. Reach Contract Accord to Avert StrikeOCT. 7, 2015þThe Fiat Chrysler chief executive, Sergio Marchionne, left, and the United Auto Workers president, Dennis Williams, at a ceremony in July to mark the opening of contract negotiations in Detroit.Fiat Chrysler Workers Appear to Reject Contract ProposalSEPT. 30, 2015þDennis Williams, president of the U.A.W., will present the tentative contract to local union leaders at a meeting on Friday in Detroit. If the terms are accepted, the deal probably will go to workers for a vote next week.þþIn a statement, Mr. Williams said that union bargainers were well aware that they needed to get more concessions after the solid rejection of the first tentative contract.þþ“We heard from our members, and went back to F.C.A. to strengthen their contract,” Mr. Williams said, referring to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.þþThe new agreement puts no limit on the number of entry-level workers, according to the people with knowledge of its contents.þþUnder the proposed deal, entry-level workers are likely to get a series of raises that will give them a wage of $29 an hour after eight years.þþOne Fiat Chrysler worker said Thursday that he needed more information before endorsing the tentative agreement.þþ“Our contract is up in four years, and the plan takes eight years,” said Brian Keller, a worker at a company distribution center in Michigan. He questioned whether Fiat Chrysler and the union “can change the commitment” after four years are up. “You’ve got to read between the lines,” he said.þþAnother worker wondered how the U.A.W. could get a better deal from Fiat Chrysler just days after a contract was turned down last week.þþ“I have to see what’s agreed upon,” said Melvin Thompson, a worker at a truck plant in suburban Detroit. “There was such a significant difference between what we turned down and what we wanted.”þþAfter the initial deal was rejected, many workers complained that it did not contain production commitments for individual plants. The new version of the contract offers more information on product plans, according to people with knowledge of the details.þþIn his statement, Mr. Williams said the new proposal “addresses our members’ principal concerns about their jobs and their futures.”þþOnce the union leadership endorses the pact, Mr. Williams is expected to be more active in pitching the contract to union workers than he was with the first agreement.þþThe defeat of the initial deal was the first time in more than 30 years that workers at the company had rejected a pact proposed by the union leadership.þþLosing a second vote would be another blow to Mr. Williams’s reputation, and force him to decide whether to return to Fiat Chrysler for another round of negotiations or move on to final bargaining with General Motors or Ford.þþG.M. and Ford have much lower percentages of entry-level workers than Fiat Chrysler. Ford, in fact, has a 25 percent cap on its lower-paid workers and has begun moving some entry-level employees up to the veterans’ pay grade.þþIn addition to Fiat Chrysler’s 36,000 workers, the tentative contract covers about 4,000 salaried employees who are union members.
Source: NY Times
