Memo: UAW plans to meet with Fiat Chrysler

The United Auto Workers plans to meet with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV to discuss why 65 percent of members rejected the first tentative labor contract reached last month, according to a union memo that reiterates what President Dennis Williams said Thursday.

The union’s statement Thursday indicated the UAW would return to Fiat Chrysler for further discussions. Fiat Chrysler in its statement said that while it was disappointed that membership did not ratify what it called a “transformational agreement,” it looked “forward to continuing a dialogue with the UAW.”

UAW leaders, including the UAW-Fiat Chrysler national bargaining committee and council, met for five-and-a-half hours Thursday in Warren to discuss why membership failed to ratify the deal, and what the union’s next move should be. No decision was announced following the meeting.

A UAW spokesman and a Fiat Chrysler spokeswoman declined to comment Friday on if the two sides were meeting again, or had anything scheduled.

But industry insiders expect the two sides to return to the bargaining table to try to hammer out a new agreement that members will ratify. Labor experts say it remains a possibility that a strike at Fiat Chrysler could occur, or that the union could shift its focus to Ford Motor Co. or General Motors Co.

A majority of FCA’s 40,000 union workers voted down the deal and voiced displeasure that it didn’t eliminate the two pay tiers, didn’t do enough for retirees and didn’t include enough details about a proposed healthcare co-op and product allocations.

In the memo dated Thursday from union leadership at UAW Local 1700 that was provided to The Detroit News, leadership shared 13 of their members’ major concerns with the deal. Those included the fact there was no cap on the number of second-tier workers. Local 1700 represents workers at FCA’s Sterling Heights Assembly Plant.

“Our members felt they were lied to regarding the cap, and that there were other things in the contract that possibly were not disclosed to them,” the memo read. Workers expected a 25 percent cap would be instituted at the end of the expiring deal; the tentative agreement did not include a cap.

FCA has the highest percentage of second-tier workers at about 45 percent.

Sterling Heights members’ other concerns included a “too rigid” attendance policy, and a failure to bring back the cost of living allowance.

The Detroit Free Press first reported the contents of the internal Local 1700 memo.

Meanwhile, Ford and the union avoided a strike at Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant after reaching a tentative local labor contract late Friday night. The UAW had set a 1 p.m. Sunday strike deadline at the plant, which employs more than 7,000 workers.

Analysts had said a long strike of more than a couple weeks would have crippled the automaker, since the F-150 built there is such a profitable and in-demand vehicle.

GM and Ford continue to await signals of when they will become the focus of the UAW at the bargaining table. The two automakers are operating under an indefinite extension on the previous contracts which expired Sept. 14.

Johnny Pruitte, president of UAW Local 276 that represents GM workers at the company’s Arlington Assembly Plant in Texas, said Friday he has not been able to answer all members’ questions on what is happening in Detroit. But he is reminding them to focus on quality work as they have an extended agreement.

“We’re all anxious about wanting to know (what’s next),” Pruitte said.

mmartinez@detroitnews.com

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