UAW demands 46% pay hike in talks with Detroit Three automakers

The proposal would be the largest pay increase in recent memory.

www.detroitnews.com

 

UAW President Fain is also pushing for a 32-hour work week (full-time?): GM confirms future wage hike for UAW members, but other demands 'threaten' company health

 

I think that's misinterpreted. What he is pushing for is medical benefits for people who work at least 32 hours. There IS a difference.

 

I do not think it is a misinterpretation.

Here is another media article regarding the matter: UAW president reveals 'the members' demands' for Detroit Three talks

 

I hope the UAW brings Stellantis to its knees.

I am done with Stellantis reporting insane profits while its dealers treat me like dirt.

See if I care if the French pack and leave North America. It won’t be the first time.

 

I am done with Stellantis reporting insane profits while its dealers treat me like dirt.

I hope the UAW brings Stellantis to its knees.

See if I care if the French pack and leave North America. I won’t be the first time.

My family and I have owned various Dodge, Ram and Jeep vehicles since 1984, when I bought my first Dodge (a 1984 Dodge Caravan LE). I have owned GM vehicles even longer. I have purchased one new Ford.

Without a doubt, the service I have received from two different Dodge dealerships (one was family owned and went out of business) has been the best, when compared to GM and Ford. This includes warranty and customer-pay work. GM’s dealer service has improved significantly.

The service I have received from three different Ford dealerships has been without a doubt the consistently worst service I have ever had. Ford’s dealer service is what will prevent me from ever owning another Ford.

 

She rewrote what he said and may have trampled on it along the way. For some reason they like to reinterpret a lot.

To that end, Fain said the union would fight for more paid time off. While responding to questions from the online chat, he even said he would seek a shorter work week of 32 hours instead of 40.

"Our members are working 60, 70, even 80 hours a week just to make ends meet — that's not a living," he said. "That's barely surviving, and it needs to stop."

So ... maybe the 32 hours is incorrectly interpreted as I said. Likewise, maybe it's a negotiating point to get to a 40 hour week.

Jodi's statement's pretty good as far as these things go.

We'll see how this goes, and can we try to keep down the reaction levels?

 

Posturing?

 

A pay raise over 40%, those running the UAW are not serious people.

 

Posturing happens. I mean, compare mentioning the possibility of a short work week with building up six months of extra inventory and talking about how despite record profits we're gonna lose money.

 

It's very hard for this company to plead poverty. Financially, at this moment, they haven't been this well off in years.

 

I keep saying this.

The number one goal of UAW negotiations should be PRODUCT.

PRODUCT
PRODUCT
PRODUCT

Without new or refreshed products.

Plants shut down and the rest of the stuff becomes mute.

 

I keep saying this.

The number one goal of UAW negotiations should be PRODUCT.

PRODUCT
PRODUCT
PRODUCT

Without new or refreshed products.

Plants shut down and the rest of the stuff becomes mute.

Moot. But I get what you mean.

The goal shouldn't JUST be product. Product and plants. But that doesn't mean they should be forced into routine 60 hour weeks.

There are other issues. I do agree that the key is plants but you know how the automakers play that game. "We're gonna shut down these five plants unless you let us hire thousands of people at minwage."

 

I guess people can't discuss negotiations without calling one side or the other greedy.
The corporation wants the lowest possible labor costs. The workers want the best possible pay. That doesn't make either group greedy.
When the corporation got what some call greedy on pricing, customers went elsewhere. That's the give and take.

 

The 40 percent increase is to make us whole because we had pay rate froze from 08 to 18 cola was lost and benefits for retirees were slashed due to what governor granholm called a haircut. How can ups workers get paid almost 50 bucks an hour to deliver packages while Uaw workers building cars in hot factory’s only make 31 bucks an hour seem fair. We are not greedy we just want our fair share of the pie We also want to have job security when products are being built here in America not other countries. We represent only 10 % of the vehicle cost and want our company to succeed and deliver quality products built by Americans for Americans

 

How did you determine that the labor cost of a vehicle is only 10%?

What does that percentage estimate include? Salary? Benefits? Legacy costs? Absenteeism costs? Taxes paid on behalf of the employee? Pension costs? 401k costs?

 

In my opinion, UAW should ask for more so they can negotiate down. The amount of inflation since 2020 has not been something seen in a long time. The thing people who earn less than $200k mostly pay for are not calculated in the CPI (Food, Gas, Rent). These items have increased 50~100% over the last two years. Most workers through the US should be pushing to at least increase their wage 25%+.

 

What percentage of a car's cost is labor?

Add in all factory costs, including the $1 billion price tag for the plant itself, and you're looking at roughly 10 to 15 percent of that vehicle's $35,000 sticker price, according to several senior industry executives who asked to remain anonymous in revealing typically proprietary data.

 

A 40 percent raise would put them back right where they were in the early 2000s

ceo compensation is based heavily on goals for profits sales stock price and they often have to wait years to obtain these benefits to cash out
Using Jl4 figure of 31 an hour. That would be a 12.40 an hour increase. Just over 25k per employee. For 150k UAW members that equals $3868800000. So almost 4 trillion a year in salary alone. Let alone payroll taxes retirements unemployment insurance and other things that come with the price tag.

Where will that money come from.

These are a historic contract on both sides.
If everyone does go full bore into EV, plants will need to be redone

Just have to be careful not to cut your nose off to spit your face

 

A 40 percent raise would put them back right where they were in the early 2000s

ceo compensation is based heavily on goals for profits sales stock price and they often have to wait years to obtain these benefits to cash out
Using Jl4 figure of 31 an hour. That would be a 12.40 an hour increase. Just over 25k per employee. For 150k UAW members that equals $3868800000. So almost 4 trillion a year in salary alone. Let alone payroll taxes retirements unemployment insurance and other things that come with the price tag.

Where will that money come from.

These are a historic contract on both sides.
If everyone does go full bore into EV, plants will need to be redone

Just have to be careful not to cut your nose off to spit your face

Check your digits again. That's 3.87 BILLION, not trillion.

 

We did a bunch of math on wages in another thread months ago (I personally did a bunch of legwork on that, using information from bureau of labor statistics). But yes, the UAW labor cost is not that high compared to everything else. The problem is the cost is relatively fixed regardless of the vehicle. So it costs (arbitrary number) the same $3000 to build a Compass as it does a Wagoneer.

We should probably remember the intent of the 40% raise is probably not "40% right now", but to give an initial boost and allow for the year raises to get them back on track as it relates to inflation. I can't speak to how much they are asking for, but FCA negotiated discount rates in years past because of "low profits". Gonna be hard to come from that angle this time.

And as Bob mentioned, keitho's numbers are actually ~$4bb not trillion. $4 billion increase to the workers is a lot, but remember, STLA just posted $12.1 billion in profit for the first half of the year. If sales continue this way, then we can expect north of $20bb. So with those numbers (which seem inaccurate), a 40% increase really is <20% off STLAs bottom line.

Don't get me wrong, there is no possible way STLA will agree to a one-time 40% push (since their are yearly rate increases in the contracts anyway). But, STLA can actually afford it.

 

How much of profit goes back into product and investment though

 

It's typical to ask for way more than possible, then trade back and forth, whittle the stuff down to a package all agree on.

 

Actually products go into plants with UAW approval.

Why do you think they get product(s) written into contracts.

I'll say it again.

It's about the products.

Without new Rams, Jeeps, Chryslers and Dodges. These plants will close down.

Yes I put Chrysler in as hope for new Chrysler product(s) in US plants.

 

While products for plants are of the utmost importance, obviously. The only plant in question is Belvidere. And I believe they already know if they intend to keep it. If they receive enough incentives, the plant will stay. If not, it's done. IMHO.

 

A 46% raise seems insane until you realize that true inflation is 90%. I can make a list of goods and services a mile long that have cost me 80-90% more this year than they did 3 years ago.

 

I recall a college economics’ professor that I had in the early 1970’s. He announced one day at the beginning of class that he had good and bad economic news.

The bad news was that a product that almost everyone used would be doubling in price (increasing 100% in cost). The class listened. He then announced that toothpicks had doubled in price from five cents a pack to ten cents. Everyone began to laugh.

The good news was that a product that almost everyone used may only be going up 20-25% in cost - a much lower percentage than the toothpicks. The class listened. He then announced that new cars were going to increase by at least a thousand dollars in price. That got everyone’s attention.

He then explained that his point was the relativity of pricing, and how percentages and statistics can make pricing and inflation look good or bad, and that the rise in cost of certain products can affect almost everyone negatively (and dramatically).

He believed that the increase in price for certain consumer products could damage the economy and employment much more than an increase in price for other certain consumer products that were used often, but inexpensive and discretionary.

 

That's some biased reporting at the end.

The UAW is demanding 46% increases in wages over four years, pensions and retiree health care, cost-of-living adjustments and a 32-hour work week paid as a 40-hour week. Meanwhile, the automakers want to preserve their ability to compete in the marketplace and make the costly transition to electric vehicles.

So basically the UAW is asking for crazy things and the poor automakers just want to compete. Awww...
But what are the automakers ACTUALLY asking for? Shutting down half the factories and opening up new ones in Mexico? 60 hour weeks for 32 hours of pay? We don't know. The UAW sounds unreasonable but that's actually on the other side?

 

That's some biased reporting at the end.



So basically the UAW is asking for crazy things and the poor automakers just want to compete. Awww...
But what are the automakers ACTUALLY asking for? Shutting down half the factories and opening up new ones in Mexico? 60 hour weeks for 32 hours of pay? We don't know. The UAW sounds unreasonable but that's actually on the other side?

I don’t know what the automakers are asking for - but I’d bet they have already offered a generous package, without threats or rude public behavior.

 

They should. I rarely agree with unions, especially large ones like the UAW. But they really need to strike. Doing all three at the same time is also a good idea because of how the position of these companies has changed since 2008. Ford is at its weakest in decades. Chrysler just had a remarkable decade when it comes to their finances. Not so much when it comes to vehicles sold. GM who had the largest burden has fallen from the largest vehicle manufacturer under the former agreement that was brokered in 2009.

 

Striking all three at once will deplete the strike fund quickly and remove some of their leverage.

 

Ford’s former CEO has a stark warning for both the UAW and automakers | CNN Business

As Detroit automakers and labor leaders scramble to hammer out a contract that will shape the future of the US auto industry, former Ford CEO Mark Fields has words of caution for both sides.

amp.cnn.com

 

UAW President Shawn Fain has announced three locations for a selective strike to begin at 12:00 am Friday 9/15, assuming no last-minute deal with the Big Three.

For Stellantis, it's the Toledo Assembly Complex, home to the Gladiator at the south plant and to the Wrangler and Wrangler 4XE at Toledo North.

For GM, it's Wentzville, Missouri, where their midsize pickups and work vans are made.

For Ford it's Ford Michigan, final assembly and paint only. Ford Broncos and Rangers are completed there.

The UAW is calling this a "Stand-up Strike". They say they can and will add other locations if needed.

 

So Mark Fields is an industry guru now...?!?

I thought he was selling hearses.

 

You see Bob Nardelli was in there too? They were really scraping the bottom of the barrel there for comments.

 

Some of the "lowlights"

• Belvedere would become a massive parts distribution center and manufacture EV components
• Trenton South and Tipton Transmission would close
• Most Mopar PDCs in Michigan would close and be consolidated at Trenton North

No wonder the union's mad 😡


Stellantis could close 18 facilities under UAW deal — here are the full details of its latest offer

 

Some of the "lowlights"

• Belvedere would become a massive parts distribution center and manufacture EV components
• Trenton South and Tipton Transmission would close
• Most Mopar PDCs in Michigan would close and be consolidated at Trenton North

No wonder the union's mad 😡


Stellantis could close 18 facilities under UAW deal — here are the full details of its latest offer

The Belvidere thing is just them trying to say they saved it. How many jobs will be there? 3? Stellantis’s Lordstown

 

They announced that earlier this year
That they were planning on redoing the Mopar parts side of the company

 

On one hand, closing Mopar PDC's when they already are an incompetent bunch sounds dumb.
On the other, having a Mopar PDC in NY that's not buried in the archipelago that is NYC actually sounds decent.
It'll still suck though.