GM contract terms to get vetted by UAW local leaders
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4LT GS Roadster
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catbert
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Spring Hill to open!
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Legally I can not go into the exact dollar amounts or my signing bonus here a the Corvette Action Center... but looks to me like the UNION sure Caved.... oops wait a minute The UNION is primary owner of GM :duh
Bud
Bud
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catbert
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UAW was given less than 18% of GM's stock when the reorganization was finalized, according to what I read. More than that was sold in the IPO.
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Tentative GM-UAW contract reflects promised new culture
Maybe the promised New Detroit is for real.
In the run-up to this fall's national contract bargaining, United Auto Workers President Bob King and his counterparts at the three automakers vowed to craft deals that would secure jobs for union members, contain fixed costs for the companies and spread a bigger chunk of profits among hourly employees who shared the burden of painful restructuring.
By the preliminary look of the tentative agreement between the UAW and General Motors Co., both sides delivered in negotiations that are remarkable as much for how they've departed from the Old Detroit rite of confrontation and entitlement as they are for the particulars of the UAW-GM deal to be detailed today in Detroit.
Hold the line on base wage increases and pensions? Check. Deliver a $5,000 signing bonus and expand profit sharing to North American performance, enabling UAW members to profit from financial results in Canada and Mexico? Check. Show analysts and investors that the new bosses aren't the same as the old ones, which might explain why GM shares traded 1.95 percent higher Monday while the rest of the market tanked 0.94 percent? Yep.
These are not your father's UAW-Big Three contract talks. Not when King is taking the GM deal public today in an unprecedented news conference that his predecessors Ron Gettelfinger, Steve Yokich and Owen Bieber wouldn't even consider, much less do.
No, they preferred to look the other way and complain while union local presidents routinely leaked contract "highlighters" to Wall Street analysts and news organizations, whose reporters used the information to shape the narrative. King clearly wants his own chance to shape it because he understands media abhors a vacuum and that many of his members already are well-informed. He's right on both counts.
These are not your grandfather's UAW-Big Three contract talks when a sitting CEO — Chrysler Group LLC's Sergio Marchionne — writes a blistering letter to King as the contract deadline passed early last Thursday, says they both "failed" Chrysler employees and signals that the talks ahead are likely to be contentious.
If there are unspoken rules governing contract talks for Detroit's auto kingpins — and there are, however gutted by bailouts, recapitalization and new leadership — the Chrysler boss isn't about to be bound by them, even if he clearly gets the theatrical aspect of the role.
Case in point: On Monday back in Turin, headquarters to Fiat SpA, Marchionne used an assembled media claque to remind whoever is paying attention that Chrysler and GM are "two completely different entities with two different heritages. We were born in 2009 with $8 billion in debt; they had $50 billion in equity."
Meaning those $5,000 signing bonuses at GM are likely to be smaller for a company whose earnings the past few quarters barely broke even while GM tallied $10.4 billion net over the past six quarters. Think they call that managing expectations.
These are not your other grandfather's auto talks when the union that has spent, oh, forever, demonizing operations down in Mexico (and in Canada) could soon be receiving larger profit-sharing payouts because sister plants south of the border account for sizable chunks of North American profitability.
The change makes sense for all sorts of reasons, starting with the obvious fact that North American earnings are easily defined in public securities filings; are a cornerstone of formulas used to calculate executive and salaried bonus payouts; and are the mother lode of corporate profitability in post-bailout Detroit.
And more: GM's pledge to restart its idled Spring Hill, Tenn., plant is a win for the UAW that resonates beyond the simple commitment itself. The move suggests the operation could be competitive, could augur well for GM sales in the States and could again be a UAW outpost in a right-to-work state whose foreign-owned rivals employ the would-be union members King covets.
And the promised rise of as much as $3 an hour in the wages for second-tier hires at GM? It's crucial to the longer-term viability of the UAW and its dues base, and it eases public pressure on automakers because the increases should place the pay rate on a par with the average national manufacturing hourly wage of $18.88 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Whether Chrysler, home to the lowest "second-tier" wage of $14.89, follows GM's lead will show just how hard a bargain Marchionne is prepared to drive. And Ford Motor Co., the only one of Detroit's three automakers to avoid bankruptcy and the one most likely to close out the contract talks?
With a second-tier rate that hovered just below $17 an hour last year and is set to increase to more than $19 an hour by 2015, according to confidential industry figures compiled for the contract talks and obtained by The Detroit News, the upward pressure on Chrysler to catch up likely will test both Marchionne's resolve and King's negotiating savvy.
These bellwether talks are far from complete, but early indications are reasons for all sides to be cautiously optimistic, notwithstanding a flatling national economy that could temper everything. Quickly.
www.dn.com
Maybe the promised New Detroit is for real.
In the run-up to this fall's national contract bargaining, United Auto Workers President Bob King and his counterparts at the three automakers vowed to craft deals that would secure jobs for union members, contain fixed costs for the companies and spread a bigger chunk of profits among hourly employees who shared the burden of painful restructuring.
By the preliminary look of the tentative agreement between the UAW and General Motors Co., both sides delivered in negotiations that are remarkable as much for how they've departed from the Old Detroit rite of confrontation and entitlement as they are for the particulars of the UAW-GM deal to be detailed today in Detroit.
Hold the line on base wage increases and pensions? Check. Deliver a $5,000 signing bonus and expand profit sharing to North American performance, enabling UAW members to profit from financial results in Canada and Mexico? Check. Show analysts and investors that the new bosses aren't the same as the old ones, which might explain why GM shares traded 1.95 percent higher Monday while the rest of the market tanked 0.94 percent? Yep.
These are not your father's UAW-Big Three contract talks. Not when King is taking the GM deal public today in an unprecedented news conference that his predecessors Ron Gettelfinger, Steve Yokich and Owen Bieber wouldn't even consider, much less do.
No, they preferred to look the other way and complain while union local presidents routinely leaked contract "highlighters" to Wall Street analysts and news organizations, whose reporters used the information to shape the narrative. King clearly wants his own chance to shape it because he understands media abhors a vacuum and that many of his members already are well-informed. He's right on both counts.
These are not your grandfather's UAW-Big Three contract talks when a sitting CEO — Chrysler Group LLC's Sergio Marchionne — writes a blistering letter to King as the contract deadline passed early last Thursday, says they both "failed" Chrysler employees and signals that the talks ahead are likely to be contentious.
If there are unspoken rules governing contract talks for Detroit's auto kingpins — and there are, however gutted by bailouts, recapitalization and new leadership — the Chrysler boss isn't about to be bound by them, even if he clearly gets the theatrical aspect of the role.
Case in point: On Monday back in Turin, headquarters to Fiat SpA, Marchionne used an assembled media claque to remind whoever is paying attention that Chrysler and GM are "two completely different entities with two different heritages. We were born in 2009 with $8 billion in debt; they had $50 billion in equity."
Meaning those $5,000 signing bonuses at GM are likely to be smaller for a company whose earnings the past few quarters barely broke even while GM tallied $10.4 billion net over the past six quarters. Think they call that managing expectations.
These are not your other grandfather's auto talks when the union that has spent, oh, forever, demonizing operations down in Mexico (and in Canada) could soon be receiving larger profit-sharing payouts because sister plants south of the border account for sizable chunks of North American profitability.
The change makes sense for all sorts of reasons, starting with the obvious fact that North American earnings are easily defined in public securities filings; are a cornerstone of formulas used to calculate executive and salaried bonus payouts; and are the mother lode of corporate profitability in post-bailout Detroit.
And more: GM's pledge to restart its idled Spring Hill, Tenn., plant is a win for the UAW that resonates beyond the simple commitment itself. The move suggests the operation could be competitive, could augur well for GM sales in the States and could again be a UAW outpost in a right-to-work state whose foreign-owned rivals employ the would-be union members King covets.
And the promised rise of as much as $3 an hour in the wages for second-tier hires at GM? It's crucial to the longer-term viability of the UAW and its dues base, and it eases public pressure on automakers because the increases should place the pay rate on a par with the average national manufacturing hourly wage of $18.88 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Whether Chrysler, home to the lowest "second-tier" wage of $14.89, follows GM's lead will show just how hard a bargain Marchionne is prepared to drive. And Ford Motor Co., the only one of Detroit's three automakers to avoid bankruptcy and the one most likely to close out the contract talks?
With a second-tier rate that hovered just below $17 an hour last year and is set to increase to more than $19 an hour by 2015, according to confidential industry figures compiled for the contract talks and obtained by The Detroit News, the upward pressure on Chrysler to catch up likely will test both Marchionne's resolve and King's negotiating savvy.
These bellwether talks are far from complete, but early indications are reasons for all sides to be cautiously optimistic, notwithstanding a flatling national economy that could temper everything. Quickly.
www.dn.com
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- #6
GM to reopen Tennessee assembly plant
DETROIT - General Motors has agreed to reopen its assembly plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., as part of its proposed settlement with the UAW.
The factory -- originally built to produce Saturn small cars and idled as part of GM's bankruptcy restructuring -- will reopen with a mix of entry level and traditional workers, a source familiar with the matter said.
It had about 2,000 workers when it was shuttered in December 2009.
The source said the plant will build a new vehicle and serve as a secondary source of North Americana production for popular models.
The Detroit Free Press first reported that the plant would reopen under terms of a new labor pact between GM and the UAW.
GM has not responded to requests for comment. The automaker has continued engine assembly at the site since vehicle production was idled.
A group of mayors from communities surrounding the plant and Tennessee economic development leaders lobbied GM officials this week in Detroit to restart vehicle production at the site.
The factory is among GM's most advanced manufacturing facilities in North America. It underwent a $700 million renovation in 2007 to improve efficiency and flexibility.
The plant turned out more than 3.7 million Saturn cars between 1990 and 2007. When it was idled, GM relocated output of the Chevrolet Traverse crossover to a plant in Delta Township near Lansing, Mich.
The automaker hasn't publicly commented on any plans to reopen the factory, but management has indicated market conditions will dictate how fast it brings additional capacity online in North America.
U.S. light vehicle demand -- hampered by the sluggish economy, high unemployment and lackluster consumer confidence -- is expected to remain below 13 million units this year.
In the decade before the recent recession, U.S. auto sales averaged nearly 17 million vehicles annually.
GM's U.S. sales are up 16 percent this year through August, compared to an 11-percent gain for the overall market.
www.an.com
DETROIT - General Motors has agreed to reopen its assembly plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., as part of its proposed settlement with the UAW.
The factory -- originally built to produce Saturn small cars and idled as part of GM's bankruptcy restructuring -- will reopen with a mix of entry level and traditional workers, a source familiar with the matter said.
It had about 2,000 workers when it was shuttered in December 2009.
The source said the plant will build a new vehicle and serve as a secondary source of North Americana production for popular models.
The Detroit Free Press first reported that the plant would reopen under terms of a new labor pact between GM and the UAW.
GM has not responded to requests for comment. The automaker has continued engine assembly at the site since vehicle production was idled.
A group of mayors from communities surrounding the plant and Tennessee economic development leaders lobbied GM officials this week in Detroit to restart vehicle production at the site.
The factory is among GM's most advanced manufacturing facilities in North America. It underwent a $700 million renovation in 2007 to improve efficiency and flexibility.
The plant turned out more than 3.7 million Saturn cars between 1990 and 2007. When it was idled, GM relocated output of the Chevrolet Traverse crossover to a plant in Delta Township near Lansing, Mich.
The automaker hasn't publicly commented on any plans to reopen the factory, but management has indicated market conditions will dictate how fast it brings additional capacity online in North America.
U.S. light vehicle demand -- hampered by the sluggish economy, high unemployment and lackluster consumer confidence -- is expected to remain below 13 million units this year.
In the decade before the recent recession, U.S. auto sales averaged nearly 17 million vehicles annually.
GM's U.S. sales are up 16 percent this year through August, compared to an 11-percent gain for the overall market.
www.an.com
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catbert
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Good information. Spring Hill is the right alternative to increasing shifts and investments in Canada. It's a great plant, ready to produce most anything.
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catbert
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The facility, not the hardware/tooling.
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Didn't Canada ante-up with the bailout too? So glad my taxes get to pay for jobs in America... and Obama was kind enough to include a "buy American only" clause in his American Jobs Act as a Chicago style expression of gratitude. :eyerole
-Mac
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I think cAnAdA has a large portion of GM, so they needed to pay the pied piper too!
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catbert
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Canada ponied up, and got the Equinox and variants plus the Camaro. A pretty shrewd investment. Those operations have been adding shifts and days since production started.
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Both the Equinox and the Camaro were in production at Oshawa before the bailout.
Are you suggesting GM would have moved production unless Canada "invested" in a bailout? Sounds like a protection racket.
I looked around to see if I could find something on the GM protection racket and look what I found...
Gangsta Mafia Protection Agency - YouTube
-Mac
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- #14
catbert
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Both the Equinox and the Camaro were in production at Oshawa before the bailout.
Are you suggesting GM would have moved production unless Canada "invested" in a bailout? Sounds like a protection racket.
I looked around to see if I could find something on the GM protection racket and look what I found...
Gangsta Mafia Protection Agency - YouTube
-Mac
Didn't suggest that for a second. But Canada still got a lot of production and shifts from the hottest GM models. I doubt if there's enough surplus production capacity up there to handle a new volume car, but I could be wrong.
The Spring Hill plant and area workforce was very productive combination back in the Saturn days, and I'm happy to see it back open.
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- #15
I stand corrected the UAW doesn't OWN GM 
Since I only respond as briefly as possible ... I leave a lot of my meaning on the keyboard..
The UAW my be a minor Owner of GM but .... I am having trouble dealing with this question:::
When did Management Lose the Right To Manage, be it right or wrong, Management HAS THE RIGHT TO MANAGE... at least in my career that was the way the game was played
I won't even try to quote the many comments from this Article written by: Stephanie Overman - CBS Interactive Business Network of UNION involvement and influence over Management Decisions whether it's OT or which Widget to build :eyerole
Bud
Since I only respond as briefly as possible ... I leave a lot of my meaning on the keyboard..
The UAW my be a minor Owner of GM but .... I am having trouble dealing with this question:::
When did Management Lose the Right To Manage, be it right or wrong, Management HAS THE RIGHT TO MANAGE... at least in my career that was the way the game was played
I won't even try to quote the many comments from this Article written by: Stephanie Overman - CBS Interactive Business Network of UNION involvement and influence over Management Decisions whether it's OT or which Widget to build :eyerole
Bud
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- #16
catbert
Moderator
Some may say GM lost it's ABILITY to manage in the 1970s when they discounted the threat of the imports, and continued to give away the farm to the UAW with the intention of passing the costs to the consumers forever, or until their management team retired fully vested with stock options vested.
But I digress. Hip-hip-hooray for the current management who acts like they might have a clue, and I'm glad another plant will open and more jobs will be created.
I apologize if these comments are off topic, and belong in the Edge. I'll shut up and go stand in the corner now.
But I digress. Hip-hip-hooray for the current management who acts like they might have a clue, and I'm glad another plant will open and more jobs will be created.
I apologize if these comments are off topic, and belong in the Edge. I'll shut up and go stand in the corner now.
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