UAW budges on 2-tier wage
Proposed deals with GM let locals organize nonproduction staff at some
plants
David Barkholz
Automotive News
August 20, 2007 - 12:01 am EST
The UAW is quietly backing away from its bedrock philosophy that hourly
employees working under the same roof should earn the same wage.
The union is letting local leaders at two General Motors assembly
plants negotiate a two-tier wage to pay nonproduction employees roughly
half as much as assembly line workers.
Local UAW officials at GM's assembly plants in Spring Hill, Tenn., and
Lansing, Mich., are involved in such talks. The payback: The UAW would
organize nonunion suppliers that handle parts sequencing, building
maintenance and other nonproduction tasks.
UAW officials around the country are considering similar arrangements,
union sources say. GM spokesman Dan Flores declined to comment.
Traditionally, two-tier wages have been taboo at Detroit 3 assembly
plants. But economic realities have softened that stance. Since 2003,
the UAW's membership at GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler has fallen from
more than 300,000 workers to 190,000 today.
In recent years, the Detroit 3 have outsourced thousands of
nonproduction jobs to nonunion suppliers. Two-tier wages could let the
UAW unionize those suppliers while helping the Detroit 3 cut labor
costs.
The UAW hierarchy in Detroit says that the union isn't endorsing a
two-tier wage because lower-paid workers would be employed by suppliers,
not GM.
But local UAW officials don't accept that distinction because
lower-paid employees are working under the same roof as better-paid
assembly workers.
Proposals to allow two-tier wages are gaining momentum, now that the
UAW has begun contract negotiations with GM, Ford and Chrysler.
