4LT GS RoadsterIf the quadrennial dance known around here as the United Auto Workers' contract talks with Detroit's automakers had a name, this year's would be called the box step.
Why? Because all sides are preparing to begin this bargaining free-for-all, opening in less than two weeks, packed neatly into boxes largely of their own making. And those are likely to limit their efforts to get what they want, perhaps more than any time in a long time.
Ford Motor Co. will arrive at the table rich in profits that fueled massive payouts to executives, starting with CEO Alan Mulally's $56.5 million long-term stock award, a base salary of $1.4 million and a cash bonus for last year of $9.45 million. Ford's net income over the past five reported quarters totaled $9.2 billion, the kind of performance that makes pleading poverty effectively impossible — and Ford knows it.
Likewise, General Motors Co. booked $7.9 billion in net income over the past five quarters. Even if lingering federal oversight limits — for now — how richly the automaker can reward its top executives, and even if the legacy of bankruptcy means some things lost will never be recovered, it's unlikely GM can get to the end of these auto talks without delivering some kind of permanent wage increase to the UAW's rank-and-file.
Chrysler Group LLC, the profit laggard in the bunch, nevertheless is delivering impressive year-over-year sales gains, improving product quality and showing an Italian-influenced swagger (courtesy of Fiat SpA CEO Sergio Marchionne). But all that might prove less effective in bargaining still to be governed by a federally imposed no-strike clause and the threat of arbitration.
The Detroit News
Why? Because all sides are preparing to begin this bargaining free-for-all, opening in less than two weeks, packed neatly into boxes largely of their own making. And those are likely to limit their efforts to get what they want, perhaps more than any time in a long time.
Ford Motor Co. will arrive at the table rich in profits that fueled massive payouts to executives, starting with CEO Alan Mulally's $56.5 million long-term stock award, a base salary of $1.4 million and a cash bonus for last year of $9.45 million. Ford's net income over the past five reported quarters totaled $9.2 billion, the kind of performance that makes pleading poverty effectively impossible — and Ford knows it.
Likewise, General Motors Co. booked $7.9 billion in net income over the past five quarters. Even if lingering federal oversight limits — for now — how richly the automaker can reward its top executives, and even if the legacy of bankruptcy means some things lost will never be recovered, it's unlikely GM can get to the end of these auto talks without delivering some kind of permanent wage increase to the UAW's rank-and-file.
Chrysler Group LLC, the profit laggard in the bunch, nevertheless is delivering impressive year-over-year sales gains, improving product quality and showing an Italian-influenced swagger (courtesy of Fiat SpA CEO Sergio Marchionne). But all that might prove less effective in bargaining still to be governed by a federally imposed no-strike clause and the threat of arbitration.
The Detroit News
