Ford seeks to preserve two-tier pay system

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/Channels/Story.aspx?ID=1752343

8/7/2012

By Doug Cunningham

Ford Motor Company Vice-President John Fleming says he wants to keep wages for Detroit autoworkers on a two-tier system, paying much lower wages for new-hires than what veteran United Auto Workers members get. The two-tier wage system was a concession made by the UAW that allowed Detroit 3 automakers to pay new hires about half what regular UAW members earn up to a total of 20 percent of the workforce at the automakers. The lower-wage workers are supposed to come up to the full wage of about $28 an hour when more workers are hired over time – if the automakers reach the 20 percent two-tier cap. Chrysler opposes making two-tier permanent. Workers don’t like it either. UAW President Bob King has acknowledged that the UAW’s “long-standing value of people receiving the same pay for doing the same work.” Is violated by two-tier. The UAW contract expires in 2015. The Canadian Auto Workers are about to begin their contract talks next week.

[Sherman A1]

1. multiple tier systems do not work in the long run

certainly there might be short term advantages, however it won't be that many years before they find themselves with a missing generation as is in the grocery business nationwide, courtesy of the multi-tiered contracts of the 1980's when we were told that things were just terrible and to keep our healthcare we had to make a deal.

[Union Scribe]

2. I just do not trust Bob King.

He isn't made of the same stuff his predecessors were. It's beyond just two-tier, he's allowed contract issues to get between members re lines of demarcation in the plants and when he praised the Korean FTA my eyes nearly fell out.