WISCREPORT.COM (10/15/07) - The UAW Chrysler Council, which includes local union leaders from Chrysler facilities throughout the United States, have voted overwhelmingly to recommend approval of the tentative agreement reached by UAW negotiators with Chrysler last Wed., Oct. 10.

Should UAW members agree and ratify the pact, Ford would be the last of the big three U.S. companies that the UAW has not reached agreement with during this round of negotiations.

“The UAW negotiating committees at Chrysler, both hourly and salaried, did an excellent job bargaining this agreement and we look forward to discussing it with our members in explanation and ratification meetings which will begin this week”, said UAW President Ron Gettelfinger.

“Thanks to the determination of Chrysler workers, we have moved forward on our agenda to protect manufacturing jobs in our communities — and we have also protected wages, health care and pensions for active and retired workers.”

“This proposed agreement meets the challenges of our industry head-on,“ said UAW Vice President General Holiefield, who heads the UAW Chrysler dept.

“ It sets the stage for future success at Chrysler, and for our members to share in that success.”

The UAW represents over 48,000 active workers and 78,000 retirees and surviving spouses at Chrysler.

UAW members have voted to ratify a new collective bargaining agreement with General Motors. The vote was 66 percent in favor of the four-year pact among production workers, and 64 percent in favor among skilled trades workers.

The union reached a tentative agreement with GM on Sept. 26, following a two-day strike against the company. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger praised the membership and local union leadership for their solid support.

The new General Motors contract covers more than 73,000 active workers at GM and more than 269,000 GM retirees and 69,000 surviving spouses. It will expire on Sept. 14, 2011.

The GM agreement delivers substantial economic gains to active workers, including a $3,000 signing bonus, two 3 percent lump sums and a 4 percent lump sum. Projected economic gains for a typical UAW GM assembler during the life of the agreement will total $13,056, including bonuses, lump sums, and projected gains from cost-of-living allowances (COLA).

The GM contract also brings unprecedented job security with company commitments to invest in new products for its existing U.S. facilities, as well as a moratorium on plant closings and outsourcing of work over the life of the agreement. The UAW also was able to secure a commitment to hire 3,000 temporary workers into full-time, traditional employment.

The GM contract maintains comprehensive health care and prescription drug coverage for active workers. In addition, GM will contribute more than $35 billion to secure long-term health care for UAW GM retirees.

For the first time, the UAW GM agreement will provide both an increase in basic pension benefits for retirees and a lump-sum payment in the first year of the agreement. Basic pension benefits are increased in each year of the agreement and “30-and-out” benefits are enhanced for workers who retire under the new agreement.

In recognition of the ongoing health care crisis in the United States, the GM agreement also establishes the National Institute for Health Care Reform, a joint labor-management effort to improve the affordability, accessibility and accountability of the U.S. health care system.