UAW CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS

Sending a strong signal it intends to reverse years of membership declines, the United Auto Workers kicked off contract talks with Detroit's automakers Wednesday at Chrysler Group headquarters, where a top union leader insisted the union would organize the German-American company's Mercedes plant in Alabama. þþÿVance will be organized very, very soon, I think in less than a year,ÿ said Nate Gooden, UAW vice president in charge of DaimlerChrysler AG. The UAW will have an agreement for a card-check union authorization at the plant ÿbefore these talks are over,ÿ said Gooden. The plant employs 2,000workers. þþThe remarks were made following a brief ceremony in which UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and Chrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche smiled and shook hands before a roomful of union and company bargainers. þþNegotiations begin today at General Motors Corp. and Friday at Ford Motor Co. þþThe stakes for a new contract are always high, and this year's talks come in the midst of a sluggish economy, especially in the manufacturing sector. þþNew contracts at the three automakers and parts suppliers Delphi Corp. and Visteon Corp. would cover more than 300,000 UAW workers who will eventually vote on the agreements. Another 528,000 retirees, surviving spouses and dependents, who rely on the health care and pension benefits from the companies, also have a stake in the deals. Retirees do not vote on proposed contracts. þþThe final contracts will likely play a role in the fate of Detroit's automakers, who have been losing market share to foreign rivals that are more productive and have lower labor costs, as well as the UAW. þþMembership at the organization sank to about 640,000 in 2002 from a high of 1.5 million in 1979, and the union is expected to use this year's talks to make a play for more members in the auto-parts sector and wherever else they might claim them, such as Mercedes-Benz. þþThe Alabama plant, which makes the M-Class, was brought into the sights of the UAW after Daimler-Benz AG acquired the former Chrysler Corp. in 1998. Organizing it would be an important symbolic win because the UAW has struggled to unionize foreign assembly plants in the South. þþA card-check authorization in which a company agrees to recognize a union if enough workers sign cards is considered a friendlier and easier way for the union to organize than a formal election. But DaimlerChrysler and the Chrysler Group have a corporate-wide ÿneutrality policyÿ that supports elections instead of card-checks, said John Franciosi, senior vice president of labor relations for Chrysler. þþDaimlerChrysler has allowed such efforts at its Freightliner division, a move that has helped the UAW recruit at least 3,000 members since January. Gooden expects a similar move at Mercedes. þþÿJudging from the conversations we've had with them, I think we will have a card-check,ÿ he said. þþThe current contract expires Sept. 14, but Gettelfinger said the union could select an automaker to set the pattern agreement as early as mid-August. In a move that demonstrated a more cooperative stance at the UAW, Gettelfinger said he preferred to call that pattern company a ÿlead companyÿ rather than a ÿstrike target,ÿ the historical term. þþThe current contract was negotiated in 1999, when the industry was riding through good economic times, and the companies agreed to 3-percent annual wage increases, no-plant-closing language and a continuation of virtually cost-free health care. þþBoth sides acknowledged the difficulty in reaching a similar contract this year. Chrysler, which has already shed 26,000 jobs and closed six plants in recent years, anticipates a $1.1-billion loss this quarter. þþFranciosi said he wants ÿa responsible agreementÿ with the UAW this year. þþÿOur challenge is a collective challenge,ÿ he said. ÿBoth parties will have a responsibility to make sure that we can close the competitive gap.ÿ þþFranciosi said he isn't focused on cutting costs in one specific area, such as health care or pensions. Rather, he said the company will take cost savings wherever it can because ÿat the end of the day it's all money.ÿ þþGettelfinger acknowledged the industry and economy are in rougher shape than in 1999. ÿOur manufacturing base has eroded,ÿ he said. ÿIt is a real difficult time but we are going to deal with the issues as they come up.ÿ þþDespite the tough times, Gettelfinger assured that the union would work hard to balance the various interests of all its members, sending a direct message to retirees who have publicly expressed worry over the talks and intend to picket outside the GM-UAW kick-off. þþÿWe've always negotiated and worked hard to respect our retired workers,ÿ Gettelfinger said. ÿWe always keep the retirees in our mind. And you've also got to remember that eventually, or hopefully, everybody that's working here one day will become a retiree.ÿþþ