UAW sets voting period for new FCA pact

Detroit Free Press (TNS)

DETROIT

The UAW union has decided to condense the voting process on its new agreement with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to just two days as it tries to avoid some of the problems that led to the rejection of its first agreement with the automaker earlier this fall.

The UAW’s nearly 40,000 members employed by the automaker are scheduled to vote on the new tentative agreement next Tuesday and Wednesday, the union said Monday afternoon. A majority of the workers represented by the union must vote in favor of the agreement for it to be ratified.

The voting schedule contrasts with a two-week voting process in September on an earlier agreement that saw voting results from many UAW locals leak out before all workers had voted. As those results became public, it became clear workers were voting against the agreement and workers who voted last appeared to matter less than those who went first.

That agreement was rejected by 65 percent of Fiat Chrysler workers who voted after a nearly two week process that ended Sept. 30.

While Fiat Chrysler workers vote, workers at Ford and General Motors continue to wait anxiously for information about their next contract. When the UAW selected Fiat Chrysler as its lead target in September it put talks with the other two automakers on hold.

Historically, the UAW uses the first agreement it reaches with one of the Detroit Three as a pattern for the other two.

But on Monday, UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles again told Ford workers not to pay much attention to the Fiat Chrysler agreement.

“I understand that this process has taken longer than expected,” Settles said in a UAW-Ford Department negotiations update.

Settle’s statement on Monday is the second in recent weeks that suggests Ford workers will get a better deal than Fiat Chrysler workers.

“It is imperative that you keep in mind that the FCA agreement is only a pattern and the tentative agreement reached with Ford will be UAW-Ford specific, aimed at addressing concerns with the current agreement and securing gains for our membership,” Settles said in the update.

The UAW reached its second agreement with the Detroit-area automaker at nearly midnight Wednesday, narrowly averting a potential strike.

Now, the UAW is having meetings at local UAW units to explain the new contract before workers vote.

“We are making regular updates on our website and Facebook page, and local leaders across the country are beginning to conduct informational sessions in plants so that members can fully understand what is – and isn’t – in the new tentative agreement,” UAW spokesman Brian Rothenberg said in a statement Monday.

For example, three meetings will take place today at UAW Local 1268, which represents workers at the automaker’s assembly plant in Belvidere, Ill., to explain the contract.

On Friday, UAW President Dennis Williams said he wanted to provide the UAW and its members more time to evaluate the new agreement before they vote.