In a Dec. 3 press conference in Detroit, Gettelfinger said the UAW would be willing to suspend contractually obligated pay for 3,500 involuntarily furloughed union workers at Ford, Chrysler and GM who are in its "Jobs Bank" and awaiting recall.
Gettelfinger also said UAW would let the firms, particularly Ford and GM, delay $14 billion in payments to a new trust fund the UAW will run that will take over retirees\' health care benefits in 2010. He reiterated those points in Dec. 4 testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, which would help write any federal loan bill for the auto makers. But he was upset that other stakeholders were not asked to sacrifice.
"As soon as we can get our elected bargaining committees reassembled, we will" do so, to consider the measures to help the auto firms, said Gettelfinger at the press conference. "We\'ll make modifications" to the contracts with the car companies "which under our (union) constitution we have the right to do."
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| UAW President Ron Gettelfinger (right) and other officers of the union at the Dec. 3 news conference. Photo courtesy of www.uaw.org |
Gettelfinger\'s comments came as the CEOs of Ford, Chrysler and GM again trekked to Capitol Hill on Dec. 4-5, seeking $34 billion in federal loans to get the firms through the current credit crunch and financial disaster, which has dried up auto sales and left them facing potential collapse and bankruptcy. Gettelfinger came, too, as he did in November. GM is worst off, saying it needs $4 billion by the end of this month.
Discussing the union\'s plans, Gettelfinger declared "UAW vigorously opposes any attempt to make workers and retirees the scapegoats" for the car companies\' problems. "Workers are only 10% of the costs" of producing a car, he said.
This time, the companies came armed with reorganization plans, showing how they would cut costs, switch to fuel-efficient hybrid and electric cars, and outlining – especially in GM\'s case – factories to close and workers to fire. They also said they would consolidate and eliminate brands and spin off some foreign subsidiaries.
GM, the shakiest of the three, said it might sell Saturn, produced in Tennessee. Sen. Robert Corker, R-Tenn., openly said "the country cannot deal with three domestic auto makers" and advocated bankruptcy. Corker spent much of the hearing pushing to cut auto workers\' pay, pensions and benefits, drawing Democratic criticism.
Gettelfinger, and virtually all the other witnesses said letting one of the three auto firms go broke and reorganize under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code would not work. Reorganization would let the firms break their UAW contracts.
"Congress needs to put in place a process to insure restructuring" the firms "outside bankruptcy" with "all the stakeholders involved," including investors, workers and management, Gettelfinger testified.
"A prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy is not a feasible option," Gettelfinger argued. "Research shows the public won\'t buy vehicles" from a bankrupt car company. And the complex relationship with its dealers and suppliers" would break them, too -- and throw the other two car companies into chapter 11, too.
"If the federal government can provide a blank check to Wall Street, it should be able to provide an emergency bridge loan to GM, Ford and Chrysler, especially since they would be subject to strict requirements," he declared.
Besides reworking the contracts, Gettelfinger said UAW will run television ads in Maine, his home state of Kentucky, Indiana and Minnesota to show how working people would be affected by the loans, and to show the auto industry is very different from banks. Banks are getting a $700 billion bailout, not loans, and made no commitments to loosen up credit or lend to consumers, including those seeking auto loans.
"There\'s a perception problem," Gettelfinger told the press, saying many foes of the auto company loans have a negative view of the UAW. That\'s despite public data, which Gettelfinger reiterated, about reworked contracts with the auto makers. Those revisions cut the average wage of new hires to $14 an hour, half the average of what present workers get. Skilled trades workers get $33 an hour.
"In 2005, UAW members agreed to forego a 3% wage increase to contribute to the cost of health care, and health care benefits were modified for retirees. In 2007, wages for new hires were reduced by half, and new hires were excluded from traditional retiree health care and defined benefit pension plans," a UAW fact sheet says.
The cuts were so large, the fact sheet notes, that wages and pensions for the remaining workers at the Ford, GM and Chrysler – who have let half of their workers go in the past five years – are competitive with those of foreign car companies, and will be below them by 2010. The firms have 150,000 workers, compared to 300,000 in 2003.
Mark Gruenberg writes for Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.
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In a Dec. 3 press conference in Detroit, Gettelfinger said the UAW would be willing to suspend contractually obligated pay for 3,500 involuntarily furloughed union workers at Ford, Chrysler and GM who are in its "Jobs Bank" and awaiting recall.
Gettelfinger also said UAW would let the firms, particularly Ford and GM, delay $14 billion in payments to a new trust fund the UAW will run that will take over retirees\’ health care benefits in 2010. He reiterated those points in Dec. 4 testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, which would help write any federal loan bill for the auto makers. But he was upset that other stakeholders were not asked to sacrifice.
"As soon as we can get our elected bargaining committees reassembled, we will" do so, to consider the measures to help the auto firms, said Gettelfinger at the press conference. "We\’ll make modifications" to the contracts with the car companies "which under our (union) constitution we have the right to do."
|
| UAW President Ron Gettelfinger (right) and other officers of the union at the Dec. 3 news conference.
Photo courtesy of www.uaw.org |
Gettelfinger\’s comments came as the CEOs of Ford, Chrysler and GM again trekked to Capitol Hill on Dec. 4-5, seeking $34 billion in federal loans to get the firms through the current credit crunch and financial disaster, which has dried up auto sales and left them facing potential collapse and bankruptcy. Gettelfinger came, too, as he did in November. GM is worst off, saying it needs $4 billion by the end of this month.
Discussing the union\’s plans, Gettelfinger declared "UAW vigorously opposes any attempt to make workers and retirees the scapegoats" for the car companies\’ problems. "Workers are only 10% of the costs" of producing a car, he said.
This time, the companies came armed with reorganization plans, showing how they would cut costs, switch to fuel-efficient hybrid and electric cars, and outlining – especially in GM\’s case – factories to close and workers to fire. They also said they would consolidate and eliminate brands and spin off some foreign subsidiaries.
GM, the shakiest of the three, said it might sell Saturn, produced in Tennessee. Sen. Robert Corker, R-Tenn., openly said "the country cannot deal with three domestic auto makers" and advocated bankruptcy. Corker spent much of the hearing pushing to cut auto workers\’ pay, pensions and benefits, drawing Democratic criticism.
Gettelfinger, and virtually all the other witnesses said letting one of the three auto firms go broke and reorganize under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code would not work. Reorganization would let the firms break their UAW contracts.
"Congress needs to put in place a process to insure restructuring" the firms "outside bankruptcy" with "all the stakeholders involved," including investors, workers and management, Gettelfinger testified.
"A prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy is not a feasible option," Gettelfinger argued. "Research shows the public won\’t buy vehicles" from a bankrupt car company. And the complex relationship with its dealers and suppliers" would break them, too — and throw the other two car companies into chapter 11, too.
"If the federal government can provide a blank check to Wall Street, it should be able to provide an emergency bridge loan to GM, Ford and Chrysler, especially since they would be subject to strict requirements," he declared.
Besides reworking the contracts, Gettelfinger said UAW will run television ads in Maine, his home state of Kentucky, Indiana and Minnesota to show how working people would be affected by the loans, and to show the auto industry is very different from banks. Banks are getting a $700 billion bailout, not loans, and made no commitments to loosen up credit or lend to consumers, including those seeking auto loans.
"There\’s a perception problem," Gettelfinger told the press, saying many foes of the auto company loans have a negative view of the UAW. That\’s despite public data, which Gettelfinger reiterated, about reworked contracts with the auto makers. Those revisions cut the average wage of new hires to $14 an hour, half the average of what present workers get. Skilled trades workers get $33 an hour.
"In 2005, UAW members agreed to forego a 3% wage increase to contribute to the cost of health care, and health care benefits were modified for retirees. In 2007, wages for new hires were reduced by half, and new hires were excluded from traditional retiree health care and defined benefit pension plans," a UAW fact sheet says.
The cuts were so large, the fact sheet notes, that wages and pensions for the remaining workers at the Ford, GM and Chrysler – who have let half of their workers go in the past five years – are competitive with those of foreign car companies, and will be below them by 2010. The firms have 150,000 workers, compared to 300,000 in 2003.
Mark Gruenberg writes for Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.