Deadline Nears in Fiat Chrysler's Canadian Labor Talks
11 October 2016 - 5:40AM
Dow Jones News
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's contract negotiations with hourly
workers in Canada are at risk of extending past a midnight strike
deadline as the Italian-U.S. auto maker resists matching costly
wage increases secured in a General Motors Co. deal signed last
month, according to the union's leader.
Unifor President Jerry Dias said in an interview Monday that,
after several weeks of dedicated talks, Fiat Chrysler is resisting
following the pattern set in Unifor's contract with GM. Mr. Dias,
who runs Canada's largest private-sector union, said he met with
Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne on Saturday but
failed to secure future product commitments during that
meeting.
Fiat Chrysler is the No. 2 producer and seller of light vehicles
in Canada. A spokeswoman for the company declined to comment.
The auto maker's four-year contract covering 9,750 hourly
workers expired Sept. 19, and Unifor set a deadline that expires
Monday at 11:59 p.m. ET for a replacement deal.
Canada is among the most expensive countries in the world to
build cars and the highest-cost market for car assembly in North
America. Unifor is bargaining for new labor deals that will help
protect Canada's auto-manufacturing sector amid a surge in new
factory investment flowing south to Mexico, where labor costs are
cheaper.
Mr. Dias reached a deal with GM after negotiations that ran
slightly past a deadline in September. The union won new factory
investment at its Canadian plants and put new hires on a faster
track to getting pay increases.
With hours to go before a strike could be initiated against Fiat
Chrysler, Mr. Dias said "we're not flexible in the pattern."
Canadian labor officials and the United Auto Workers in the U.S.
have followed pattern bargaining with Chrysler, GM and Ford Motor
Co. for several decades.
While auto makers have individual issues to negotiate related to
products or specifics facilities, they generally have agreed to
follow the course set by the first "target" company selected by the
union.
Mr. Dias said Ford bargainers also are pushing back about the
wage gains granted in the GM deal, arguing more immediate raises
for new hires at the company's Oakville Assembly plant will undo
the business case for investing in the facility.
Ford negotiations will likely begin after Fiat Chrysler talks
conclude. However, union officials have in the past suspended talks
with one auto maker and returned to them later when a deal proved
hard to hammer out.
Mr. Dias said if a tentative deal with Fiat Chrysler can't be
reached by the Monday deadline, Unifor's Fiat Chrysler members will
head out on strike, stopping production at the company's two
assembly plants in Ontario.
Those factories build high-profile models such as the Chrysler
Pacifica minivan, which was recently redesigned and attracted
critical acclaim when it went on sale earlier this year.
Ford declined to comment directly on Mr. Dias's remarks.
"We will work collaboratively with Unifor to negotiate a
globally competitive collective agreement," the company said in a
statement.
Write to Christina Rogers at christina.rogers@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 10, 2016 14:25 ET (18:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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