CAW to Give Details of GM Deal at Noon
Posted on: Thursday, 15 May 2008, 15:00 CDT
By Brent Snavely, Detroit Free Press
May 15--The Canadian Auto Workers said this morning that it will hold a noon news conference to discuss some of the details of a tentative agreement the union has reached with General Motors Corp.
The CAW said this morning that the tentative agreement received the unanimous support of the CAW-GM master bargaining committee and will be voted on by GM workers during a series of ratification meetings Friday. GM spokesman Stew Low confirmed that a tentative agreement has been reached.
The CAW represents approximately 13,000 Canadian GM workers in Oshawa, Windsor, St. Catharines and Woodstock.
The CAW also said it has reached an agreement in principle with Chrysler LLC, subject to final contract language.
The CAW represents nearly 9,000 Ford workers in Canada and has about 9,000 members at Chrysler's Canadian facilities, according to the union.
The union surprised many when it announced a framework deal with Ford Motor Co. on April 28, which was reached more than four months before the CAW's national auto contracts expire in September. Ford workers ratified the deal earlier this month.
The union said the Ford deal freezes wages and cuts vacation pay but avoids changes to base wages. It also prevents a two-tier wage system like the one in UAW contracts ratified last year, where new hires would be paid about half the hourly wages of older employees. New hires would start work at 70% of the top wage, reaching the maximum three years later.
In an interview with the Free Press on May 1, Chrysler president and vice chairman Tom LaSorda raised concerns about using Ford's deal as a template.
"We have to be competitive," LaSorda said. "And I'm not so sure the Ford deal was very competitive."
Several days later the union said in a statement: "Chrysler ... did not indicate they would be unable to meet the pattern established last week at Ford."
Free Press reporter Katie Merx contributed to this report.
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Source: Detroit Free Press
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