Saturday, October 20, 2007

UAW resistance grows to Chrysler contract offer

UAW local opposition to the proposed Chrysler contract continues to grow. Detroit Axel; St. Louis North; Twinsburg, Ohio; St. Louis South Assembly; Newark, Delaware and Fenton, Missouri have all voted against the agreement.

The contract needs majority approval of all members voting to be ratified.

At issue, a lack of commitment to build future products and a two-tier wage system. Experts expect opposition to gain momentum as more locals decline the offer. Chrysler has some room to stand its ground. Reuters reported Wednesday that Chrysler will be eliminating some products in the near term. Fourth quarter auto sales are expected to continue to lag. So, the company is anticipating lower production demands.

According to the Detroit News, ratification votes will include:
Local City Vote Date
75 Milwaukee Today
76 Fremont, Calif. Today
212 Detroit (Conner) Today
412 Auburn Hills Today
868 Conyers, Ga. Today
889 Warren (Clerical) Today
1649 Orlando, Fla. Today
7 Detroit (Jefferson North) Sunday
509 Pico Rivera, Calif. Sunday
624 Syracuse, NY (New Process Gear) Sunday
2149 Syracuse, NY (Engineering) Monday
685 Kokomo (Transmission) Tuesday
1166 Kokomo (Casting) Tuesday
140 Warren (Warren Truck, Sterling Emission) Wednesday
869 Warren (Stamping) Wednesday
1264 Sterling Heights (Stamping) Wednesday
1700 Sterling Heights (Assembly) Wednesday