> Lifetime Jobs a Key in Auto Union Talks > > By Frank Swoboda > Washington Post Staff Writer > Saturday, September 11, 1999; Page E1 > > By all accounts, contract negotiations in the auto industry are going well. > So well, in fact, that former United Auto Worker president Doug Fraser > predicts the new contracts with his old union will be "the richest > settlement you've ever seen." > > Current UAW President Stephen Yokich has done nothing to discourage such > speculation. Earlier this week he called the first contract proposals from > DaimlerChrysler AG and General Motors Corp. the most generous he'd ever seen > in his career with the union. > > These are good times financially for the auto industry, and all signs > indicate the Big Three automakers--DaimlerChrysler, GM and Ford Motor > Co.--are more than willing to pay for labor peace to keep their plants > operating. > > But, despite the union's potentially strong negotiating position, it may > have to strike a devil's bargain. Any short-term gains in this year's > contract negotiations may cost future employment for union members. In other > words, will the gains of the current work force be paid for by the unborn as > the auto industry seeks future cutbacks in its work force? > > GM has reportedly gone so far as to offer every UAW member with more than 10 > years seniority a lifetime employment guarantee. But that guarantee may not > cost GM as much as it seems on the surface--and there also may be a catch. > Under the current contract, GM is required to hire one person for every two > workers who leave, a ratio that allows it to continue reducing its work > force. But GM may insist on eliminating or reducing that ratio even further > in exchange for the job guarantees. > > DaimlerChrysler has taken steps to help the union sign up the workers at its > Mercedes-Benz assembly plant in Alabama, which could give the UAW its first > major toehold in the South where non-union automakers such as BMW AG, Toyota > Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. have begun to cluster. > > The negotiations may be tougher at Ford. The company says it needs to spin > off its Visteon parts manufacturing operations over the strong objections of > the union. > > Few familiar with the negotiations believe the union can keep Ford from > spinning off its parts unit. But the union may be able to convince Ford to > separate Visteon under the same rules negotiated for union workers at Delphi > Automotive Systems, the parts manufacturing operation sold by GM last year. > Under that deal, the new GM contract terms will be essentially extended to > the new company. > > If there is a consensus on the outcome of the negotiations when contracts > expire at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, it would be something like this: a four > year contract, with 4 percent-a-year base wage increases for at least the > first three years, a large increase in pension benefits, and a $3,000 > signing bonus. > > Beyond the basic economic pattern, each contract will have its own variation > tailored to the needs of the individual companies. And none is more > intriguing than reports GM has offered lifetime employment guarantees. > Although both GM and the union have refused to confirm the reports, sources > familiar with negotiations said the offer is on the bargaining table. > > "It's there if the union wants it," said a source. But he predicted any > lifetime guarantee would have to apply to all current UAW members, or else > it would be too divisive. Some labor experts yesterday said that anything > short of lifetime guarantees to all workers would amount to a two-tier > employment system similar to the highly contentious two-tier wage systems > that developed in the 1980s and have largely been abandoned since. > > But even if the lifetime guarantee were to be extended to all current > employees, the impact of such a move would be eased considerably by the fact > that the UAW work force at GM has an average age of 48 with 23 years of > service. UAW members can retire with full pension benefits after 30 years of > service. > > GM said there currently are 32,000 UAW workers with 30 or more years of > service and that the average retirement age is 57. The work force attrition > rate at GM last year was 6.8 percent. > > All of this adds up to a fairly rapid dilution of the lifetime guarantees > over the next few years. > > In the past, the UAW has been highly successful in providing income security > for its members, even when it couldn't provide job guarantees. Under the > current contract, for example, even laid off workers were guaranteed 95 > percent of their pay for the life of the union contract. The lifetime job > guarantees reportedly being offered by GM would not significantly alter that > pattern. UAW members would be guaranteed employment, but there would be no > guarantee of the number of jobs in the work force. > > At stake in these talks is how many of those with lifetime guarantees will > be replaced when they decide to retire. That will be the key to the success > of these negotiations. > > Unlike Ford and DaimlerChrysler, which were forced to trim their work forces > by 50 percent in the face of financial troubles 20 years ago, GM has been > slowly trimming its work force by attrition or the sale of various > operations. At the start of the 1990s, GM had 228,065 hourly employees in > the United States, compared with 148,025 today. > > 1999 The Washington Post Company > --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---