US auto union tells members to “expect sacrifices” in new contracts

With negotiations for new four-year labor agreements with General Motors, Ford and Chrysler set to begin over the next several months—with the old contract expiring September 14—UAW officials have publicly stated that UAW members should expect see a rollback in wages, benefits and working conditions long considered untouchable by the auto companies.

On January 16 Detroit News ran a banner headline across its front page that read, “UAW: Expect Sacrifice.” The article began, “The message coming down from the United Auto Workers’ top ranks as they prepare for this year’s contract talks is not the hard-line rhetoric of the past. Labor leaders are talking to rank-and-file workers about sacrifice and the need to help Detroit automakers become competitive again.”

Last month, the newspaper says, UAW Vice President Cal Rapson told union leaders from GM plants around the country that “the way we conducted business in the past when General Motors was very profitable, would have to change.” According to a recent note to workers in Warren, Ohio, Rapson “made some comments that if we didn’t change, we wouldn’t survive the future.”

James Kaster, the president of UAW Local 1714 at GM’s Lordstown, Ohio plant factory added, “If we don’t make a profit, we don’t have a plant.” Noting that the local union has a program under way to “educate workers on why GM’s financial success should matter to them,” Kaster insisted, “You can’t just say, ‘Hey we’re going to do things the old way.’ That’s a huge change for us.”

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http://wsws.org/articles/2007/jan2007/uaw-j22.shtml