‘A new clock ticking’
Chrysler members ratify new pact
Revoydia Slide waited patiently. Then she received word that it was time.
After months of tough bargaining and a one-day strike, UAW Chrysler members had a tentative agreement with economic gains for workers, guaranteed health care funding for retirees, and unprecedented product and investment commitments.
“It was time to start a new clock ticking,” said Slide of UAW Local 961 in Detroit. “It was time to take a look at what we have, put it into perspective and prepare for the next four years.”
The agreement, reached Oct. 10, won economic gains totaling $10,235 for a typical UAW Chrysler worker, maintained comprehensive health care for active workers, gave lump sums to current retirees and boosted benefits for future retirees. Also, the contract brought a commitment from Chrysler LLC to pay $10.3 billion to secure future health care benefits for retirees, including $8.8 billion to fund a Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA).
Members ratified the agreement Oct. 27 by a vote of 56 percent in favor of the four-year contract among production workers and 51 percent in favor among skilled-trades workers. Ninety-four percent of office and clerical workers voted in favor, and 79 percent of UAW-represented Chrysler engineering workers approved the contract, which covers about 45,000 active workers, more than 55,000 Chrysler retirees and 23,000 surviving spouses.
“Our members knew this would be a challenging set of negotiations, and they were prepared to ask the hard questions about what could be in store for the next four years,” UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said. “Now that we have a new contract in place it’s up to the company to move forward with products that will increase their market share and keep good jobs here in the U.S.”
“We all know that protecting jobs and benefits for our members is an ongoing process,” said UAW Vice President General Holiefield, who directs the union’s Chrysler Department.
“Our members didn’t vote on the contract and go home. They are engaged in every aspect of how we move forward and what it means for the next four years.”
For autoworkers this is a time for survival and a time for faith, said UAW Local 869 President Paul Caucci.
“What we have now is a contract that allows us to live to fight another day,” said Caucci, who heads the Warren, Mich., local. “It’s time for the company to sell cars and focus on succeeding in business so that our workers will have a future and good jobs.”
In her years as a UAW member, retiree Slide has experienced many contracts, and each time she asked herself one question: “Whom do you trust: the company or the union?”
“Each time the answer came back the same,” said Slide. “I trust the UAW.”
