UAW workers more positive heading into second FCA contract vote

Detroit Free Press (TNS)

DETROIT – A better deal, greater efforts to explain it and negotiations fatigue might be enough to see a new tentative agreement between the UAW union and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles ratified.

Unionized FCA workers will vote Tuesday and Wednesday on whether to ratify a new contract that will govern their working lives for the next four years. The mood heading into the vote suggests ratification is possible but far from assured.

This is the second round of voting for 40,000 workers. The first agreement, reached Sept. 15, was turned down with 65 percent of the membership voting against it, a decision that reverberated throughout the union’s leadership and across the auto industry.

Since then, however, the mood of workers appears to have shifted.

Opposition to the new agreement has been noticeably less vocal at informational meetings leading up to this week’s vote. Likewise, opposition on social media isn’t going unchallenged, nor has there been a series of worker-organized rallies.

After the first agreement was defeated, the UAW returned to the table with FCA and negotiated a new deal that better addresses the concerns of workers.

“The UAW responded to most of the objections members had with the first version of the tentative agreement,” said Kristin Dziczek, director of the labor and industry group at the Center for Automotive Research.

For example, the second agreement better addresses the desire by entry-level workers to eventually make the same wage as longtime workers, eliminates a proposed health care cooperative that workers did not understand or trust, and includes a commitment between the union and the company to revisit work schedules that workers dislike.

And, the union also has taken steps to explain the terms of the new deal and give union members more time to understand them before all locals vote Tuesday and Wednesday.

This UAW’s communication efforts have included a full court press on its official Facebook pages to explain details of the tentative agreement and posted videos of local leaders promoting the benefits of the deal. The result: The bulk of the discussion is at least occurring on the union’s Facebook pages instead of on alternative Facebook sites and other social media forums.

“Great contract! Vote yes,” Patrick Land wrote on a UAW Facebook page.

Another worker, Richard Lytle, said, “It’s not a perfect contract . but it’s not a bad one either. Choose wisely brothers and sisters!”

The UAW also is using videos to get its message out.

“I believe the no vote actually brought us together as a union. I believe the no vote sent a message to (FCA CEO) Sergio (Marchionne) that we are serious about our livelihood,” Marylyn Bonds, recording secretary of UAW Local 140, which represents Warren Truck Assembly Plant employees in suburban Detroit, said in a video posted on the UAW’s Facebook page.

A rejection of a second national agreement recommended by the UAW would be unprecedented and would throw the union into uncharted territory as it works to reach new agreements with FCA, General Motors and Ford.

The current FCA agreement was reached just before midnight on Oct. 7. Details began leaking out the next day, and by Oct. 9, the union had officially released the content of the proposed contract – a full 11 days before voting was scheduled to begin.

Most locals have long voting hours planned Tuesday and Wednesday at union halls to accommodate the shift workers. Union leadership could announce as early as Thursday whether the deal was ratified. If the deal passes, the next step is choosing whether General Motors or Ford is the second company to negotiate a similar deal.