DETROIT, Sept. 11 — The Big Three and the United Automobile Workers are on the brink of an unprecedented early and simultaneous resolution to their contract talks, people close to the negotiations said.þþThe parties are looking to wrap up negotiations before midnight Sunday, when the four-year labor contracts expire. Reaching an accord at all three companies would be a historic sign of unity between the union and management, but time is running short and hiccups have a way of derailing negotiations.þþÿTwo weeks ago, I thought the odds were fairly high against it,ÿ said Buzz Hargrove, the president of the Canadian Auto Workers Union, referring to the chances for an early three-in-one deal for the United Automobile Workers, something that has never happened before.þþÿI still find it highly unlikely but not impossible,ÿ Mr. Hargrove added, ÿbecause there really is a clear effort to do it at all three.ÿþþRepresentatives of Ford Motor, General Motors and the Chrysler Group unit of DaimlerChrysler and the union would not comment substantively on the talks.þþÿWe've been working hard since our handshake and making steady progress,ÿ said Anne Marie Gattari, a Ford spokeswoman, referring to the ceremonial handshake between management and union leaders that opened the talks last month. ÿWe're moving in the right direction.ÿþþTraditionally, the union picks one company as a target and negotiates an agreement with it. That first deal becomes the framework the others follow. Negotiations with the target company traditionally go up to the deadline, and sometimes beyond it, and are often contentious.þþThis time, Ron Gettelfinger, the new president of the union, is pushing hard for an early deal to send a signal to Wall Street, the media and anyone else listening that the union is basically in accord with the Big Three.þþWhy?þþOne need look no further than August sales results, when the combined market share of G.M., Ford and Chrysler reached a record low.þþIn August, Toyota also surpassed Chrysler in sales for the first time. The milestone was largely symbolic, because Toyota, which includes Lexus, still trailed DaimlerChrysler, which includes Mercedes.þþBut, coming during contract talks, it was quite a potent symbol of the declining fortunes of the domestic industry and its dwindling union, which had fewer than 700,000 members last year, compared with 1.5 million in 1980.þþIncreasingly, the union and the Big Three see themselves as allies in a fight against foreign-based nonunion rivals. Companies like Toyota, Honda and Nissan have assembly plants in the United States, but none are represented by a union, except for joint ventures like a plant operated by Toyota and General Motors in California. Neither are domestic plants owned by BMW or Mercedes.þþÿWhat it says is both sides are dealing with each other from great weakness,ÿ said Gerald C. Meyers, a professor at the University of Michigan and the former chairman of American Motors, now a part of DaimlerChrysler.þþÿThe auto companies are struggling,ÿ Professor Meyers said. ÿThe volume is high enough, but they can't make any money at these prices.ÿ þþNeither side wants a strike, especially because companies like Toyota have been siphoning off market share from the Big Three. This year, through August, the market share of the traditional domestic auto industry was 60.1 percent, down from 61.9 percent last year, according to the Autodata Corporation.þþAnd that decline occurred despite a price war that increased industry sales as Detroit far outspent rivals on rebates and cut-rate financing deals. þþÿThe two of them are basically on the same side, they have a common enemy,ÿ Professor Meyers said. ÿWhat's the old saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. And that's about the way it is.ÿþþGary Chaison, a professor of industrial relations at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., said ÿwhat we have now is really remarkable, if you think about it.ÿþþÿIt's the union and the Big Three trying to figure out a way of living together where they can face off the nonunion companies,ÿ Professor Chaison added. þþIt is probable, too, that the union thinks a nonconfrontational approach might help in what have thus far been fruitless efforts to form unions at automakers that are not in the Big Three. þþÿIf they seem too militant,ÿ Professor Chaison said, ÿthey may turn off organizing efforts at parts plants, or at Toyota or Mercedes. Workers want protection, but they also want to avoid conflict with employers.ÿ þþThe crucial issues in the talks include the considerable health care benefits the Big Three pay to hundreds of thousands of workers, retirees and their families. For G.M., which has the largest proportion of retirees, health costs average $1,200 a vehicle. That is a serious competitive disadvantage, considering their foreign competitors' costs are much lower because they are based in countries with nationalized health care systems and have almost no retirees in this country.þþMr. Gettelfinger has drawn a line in the sand over the issue, insisting that his members will keep their health benefits. But concessions are expected in other areas, including cutting back on wage increases, allowing plants to close and changing some work rules.þþWill the triple deal happen?þþMr. Hargrove said his Canadian auto workers union, which agreed to new contracts with the Big Three last year, would not have enough people to conduct negotiations in earnest with the three companies simultaneously.þþÿWe wouldn't have enough people to cover it — negotiators, the health and safety experts, the pension experts,ÿ he said, adding, ÿwhen you have three of them, especially when you're the quarterback trying to run three fields, it's quite a challenge, I'd say.ÿþþ
Source: NY Times
