UAW, FCA labor talks continue as deadline looms in US

The United Auto Workers union said just after midnight Tuesday it would extend its national labor agreement with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV on an hour-by-hour basis, signaling hope it can reach a tentative pact on a new four-year deal overnight.

If the talks hit an impasse, the UAW could call a companywide strike or stage limited walkouts that could cripple FCA’s operations without forcing hefty payments to workers from union strike funds.

Meanwhile, General Motors Co. extended its contract indefinitely with the union late Monday.

The UAW began formal contract negotiations with all three companies in July.

By starting with Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne, UAW President Dennis Williams is working to ensure he forges an agreement that the other two companies can accept – and make it less likely that the union would have to reach significantly different accords with each. That gives FCA’s US operations an $8 to $10 an hour labor cost advantage over Ford, where 28 percent of the UAW workers are in the lower-tier wage group, and GM, where 20 percent of workers are in the lower-wage tier.

UAW members have authorized their leaders to strike each company, if necessary.

FCA has already confirmed that it is the target company and will, to the best of its efforts lead the negotiations on the agreement, yet no further comments were issued. Majority haven’t received base pay raises in a decade. GM and Ford, even with the higher labor costs, are more profitable than Fiat Chrysler.

UAW spokesman Brian Rothenberg said at 6 am ET that most of the negotiators were still working.

“The present four-year contract is because of expire tonight”, Mr. Norwood stated.

“This is the recognition that the union has had for a while, that you can’t destroy the companies and still have jobs”, she said. While the selection reportedly took industry analysts by surprise, the reason for the UAW picking the smallest of the three major United States automakers is not hard to understand.

FCA could also face a strike in the event of negotiations stalling, although workers at several FCA factories yesterday said that they had not been told of any strike plans.

Fiat Chrysler was picked as the lead company in the talks this year, making it the focus of bargaining. The financial crisis forced GM and Chrysler to undergo government-brokered restructurings in 2009.

Williams has pushed for the healthcare pool idea, which could cut benefits costs and free money for richer pay increases. Earlier this year, two workers died on consecutive days at Chrysler’s Jefferson North Assembly in Detroit where workers produce a Jeep every minute.