Ratification of UAW, FCA deal appears mathematically impossible

 

By Brent Snavely, Detroit Free Press 12:42 p.m. EDT September 30, 2015

Mathematically, the deal did not get enough votes to ratify the proposed four-year contract.

TOLEDO, OH - MAY 7: A Jeep sign sits in front of the Chrysler Toledo North Assembly Plant where Jeep Wranglers and Cherokees are assembled. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images) (Photo: Bill Pugliano)

 

Ratification of a deal between the UAW and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles appears to be impossible after workers at assembly plants in Toledo and Sterling Heights on Tuesday overwhelming voted against a proposed four-year contract, the latest in a string of decisive defeats that now makes ratification of the deal a long shot.

In Toledo, 87% of production workers and 80% of skilled trades workers who work at the plant where the Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Cherokee is built voted against the contract, according to a person briefed on the results who is not authorized to release them publicly.

The margin of defeat by workers represented by UAW Local 12 in Toledo appears to be the largest yet among any UAW local that has voted so far.

At UAW Local 1700 in Sterling Heights, 72% of production workers and 65% of skilled trades workers who cast ballots voted against the contract, according to a person briefed on those results.

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A Free Press analysis of voting already indicated that ratification by a majority of the 40,000 union-represented workers at Fiat Chrysler was unlikely before the Jeep results were announced. Mathematically, the deal cannot pass.

The rejection of the agreement by members of UAW Local 12 in Toledo isn't surprising, but the overwhelming margin of defeat is the highest of any large UAW unit that has voted so far.

Many of the more than 5,000 workers there are angry at Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne because there have been media reports that the automaker plans to move the Jeep Cherokee -- the best-selling Jeep model -- to the automaker's plant in Belvidere, Ill.

News of the company's plans to move the Cherokee came after officials from Toledo and the state of Ohio spent more than a year putting together land and an incentive package to convince the automaker to keep the Wrangler in Toledo. But workers, as well as politicians, felt double-crossed when news emerged that the company would move the Cherokee instead.

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Workers are worried about the relocation of the Cherokee because they are concerned that the Wrangler and a potential Wrangler pickup truck won't support as many jobs even after production capacity is expanded for the iconic SUV.

Workers in Toledo and Sterling Heights voted today and are among the last to vote in a nationwide ratification process that began last week. Workers at an assembly plant in Belvidere, Ill. will be the last to vote on Wednesday.

Issues about the automaker's product plans are also a factor at Sterling Heights Assembly, where Fiat Chrysler recently spent more than $1 billion to retool the plant to make the Chrysler 200. Now, there are media reports that car will be moved to Mexico and the automaker will make move the Ram 1500 from Warren to Sterling Heights.

Both the company and the UAW have refused to disclose the product plan and put it into writing.

"All the UAW workers in Metro Detroit are bombarded with rumors or work going to Mexico,"  said Simon Vuli, who has worked at Sterling Heights Assembly for three years.

A 2015 Chrysler 200 automobile moves down the assembly line at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in Sterling Heights, Mich. (Photo: Paul Sancya, Associated Press)

If ratified, the proposed contract would give all workers a $3,000 signing bonus, entry-level workers in assembly plants would see wages increase to a range of $17 to $25.35 per hour, and workers hired before 2007 would receive two 3% wage increases and two lump-sum bonuses over the life of the contract. It would also establish a new health care cooperative for all active UAW auto workers that would work to negotiate better rates and treatments from health providers without an increase for what workers pay.

The health care cooperative, combined with pay raises for both entry-level workers and legacy workers with a pay raise, largely achieves what UAW President Dennis Williams set out to deliver in contract talks.

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But many workers also have said they don't like the proposed contract because it doesn't provide entry-level workers with a full path to the $28-per-hour average wage that workers hired before 2007 make, and a lack of clarity on a new health care cooperative.

The agreement also includes a different wage scale for entry-level workers the automaker's Mopar parts and distribution centers. They would earn between $17 and $22 per hour while axle operators would earn between $17 and $22.35 per hour, according to the 450-page contract

"My issue with the tentative agreement is back in 2011 there was talks about a cap of 25% on Tier 2 workers after the life of the contract," said Vuli. "In this new agreement their is actually another tier being added for Mopar workers and for progression employees no cap was put in place."

Contact Brent Snavely: 313-222-6512 or bsnavely@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrentSnavely.

Ratification of UAW, FCA deal appears mathematically impossible