UAW to members: Lobby Obama

NEW YORK (AP) — The United Auto Workers, facing the prospect of deeper wage and benefit cuts, urged its members Monday to lobby the Obama administration for support as the union presses ahead with negotiations with troubled automakers General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC.

The automakers are trying to wring deeper concessions from the union so they can achieve the cost cuts the government is demanding before it lends more money to the companies. Chrysler has until the end of April to arrange a tie-up with Italian automaker Fiat SpA and get deeper concessions from debtholders and the UAW. GM has until June 1 to work out deals with its stakeholders.

In an e-mail Monday to a UAW mailing list, the union told members and supporters to contact the White House and “insist that workers and retirees must be treated in a fair and equitable manner in any restructuring plans.”

“We need President Obama and his auto task force to stand up for the interests of workers and retirees in these restructuring negotiations,” the e-mail said. “Please call or e-mail President Obama right away on this critically important issue.”

White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage said in an e-mail that the administration’s autos task force “will continue to have an open door through this process and will continue to hear the views of all the stakeholders involved.”

Although the backing of the UAW and other unions was key to President Barack Obama’s election last fall, he nonetheless has called on the union to accept deeper concessions so the Detroit Three can better stand up to the foreign competition. Japanese and European automakers generally have lower labor costs and, at their U.S. facilities, have a nonunion work force.

Chrysler and GM have been avoiding bankruptcy because of a combined $17.4 billion in government aid since the beginning of the year. The Obama administration has said it will provide an additional $6 billion to Chrysler if its merger with Fiat succeeds. It agreed to provide up to $16.6 billion to GM if it achieves its restructuring goals.