UAW Sends Strike Notice to Fiat Chrysler

The United Auto Workers union said its members may walk away from their jobs at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles on Wednesday night over an expiring labor deal.

Following closely the 65% rejection of a tentative contract between the UAW and FCA U.S., the automaker has been formally notified that the union is in a strike position as of 11:59 pm this evening. The employees could strike against all 18 U.S. Fiat Chrysler plants, or they could target specific operations centers – like an Indiana plant critical in the manufacture of Jeeps and Dodge Ram trucks, two major sellers for Fiat Chrysler.

“The company continues to work with the UAW in a constructive manner to reach a new agreement”. A 2009 agreement, as part of the USA government’s industry bailout, prohibited the UAW from striking against the automakers until this year.

Monday, UAW representatives met with Fiat Chrysler but left the bargaining session disappointed that the automaker was unwilling to improve its prior offer.

FCA and the UAW were still negotiating early Wednesday afternoon, according to representatives from both sides.

Dziczek also warned, however, that a work stoppage could have serious consequences for the company – the least profitable of Detroit’s Big Three – and its relationship with its workers.

The strike may not hit every Fiat Chrysler factory.

A strike would occur as the US auto industry is at its highest mark in a decade, and as Fiat Chrysler is enjoying an ongoing streak of 66 months with year-over-year sales gains.

Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesSergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles speaks at the start of labor negotiations with the United Auto Workers union in Detroit in July.

As The Detroit Free Press reports, however, a notice does not necessarily mean that the union is headed toward a national strike or a strike at all.

About 43% of Fiat Chrysler’s 40,000 UAW workers were hired after 2007 and many of them have never experienced a strike.

Management at Fiat Chrysler said that the two-tier wage system is not something that can continue forever, but that it can’t afford to eliminate it faster. No one else has to pay the price of a strike.

It isn’t clear why voters turned down a deal that their president had endorsed, but Williams pledged to members this week to do a better job communicating new contract details.