Detroit News:
Workers at Chrysler Group LLC's Dundee Engine Plant have voted overwhelmingly to reject a new local operating agreement, raising serious concerns about the company's only four-cylinder motor factory in the United States.
More than 73 percent of workers there voted against the new contract.
"I don't know what happened. I thought we had a good win-win contract," said Tom Zimmerman, plant chairman for United Auto Workers Local 723, which represents workers at the factory. "I'm bracing for the fallout."
What that fallout might be is anyone's guess at this point. No UAW local has voted down a contract since Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy in 2009 as part of a government-brokered bailout that severely limited the union's right to strike.
"They can't strike," said Chrysler spokeswoman Jodi Tinson.
"We negotiated with them in good faith and had a tentative agreement," she said. "The UAW has got to figure out what they're going to do."
Zimmerman told The Detroit News that he and other local union leaders are still trying to figure out what went wrong.
"We can't get our arms around it," he said, noting that few workers attended an informational meeting on the proposed local agreement that was held on Sunday. Voting was conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Originally a joint-venture factory built with Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Hyundai Motor Co., the factory had operated under a separate contract until last fall. This is the first local agreement at the plant since workers there voted to become part of the UAW's master national agreement with Chrysler last fall.
Veteran workers had always received signing bonuses when they ratified new local operating agreements under the old system, and union leaders said some were upset that those would not be part of this contract.
In addition, almost half of the approximately 650 hourly workers at the plant are new hires who have never been through a local contract negotiation before.
Morale at the factory suffered last year when Chrysler switched to a controversial rotating shift schedule that was popular with many of the new hires but despised by most veteran employees. Chrysler agreed to replace that with a more traditional shift schedule as part of its 2011 national agreement with the UAW.
Dundee produces engines for the Fiat 500 and Dodge Dart — Chrysler's most important new vehicle, which is just arriving in showrooms. Demand for both cars is high, and employees have been working a lot of overtime.
The company does not anticipate any impact on production, but plant managers were holding an emergency meeting to discuss the situation Thursday morning.
The UAW will hold a meeting of its own with workers next week to figure out why workers rejected the tentative agreement and decide how to proceed.
"I'm looking forward to the challenge of trying to right this ship," Zimmerman said.
From The Detroit News: Workers reject local operating agreement at Chrysler's Dundee plant | The Detroit News | detroitnews.com
Workers at Chrysler Group LLC's Dundee Engine Plant have voted overwhelmingly to reject a new local operating agreement, raising serious concerns about the company's only four-cylinder motor factory in the United States.
More than 73 percent of workers there voted against the new contract.
"I don't know what happened. I thought we had a good win-win contract," said Tom Zimmerman, plant chairman for United Auto Workers Local 723, which represents workers at the factory. "I'm bracing for the fallout."
What that fallout might be is anyone's guess at this point. No UAW local has voted down a contract since Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy in 2009 as part of a government-brokered bailout that severely limited the union's right to strike.
"They can't strike," said Chrysler spokeswoman Jodi Tinson.
"We negotiated with them in good faith and had a tentative agreement," she said. "The UAW has got to figure out what they're going to do."
Zimmerman told The Detroit News that he and other local union leaders are still trying to figure out what went wrong.
"We can't get our arms around it," he said, noting that few workers attended an informational meeting on the proposed local agreement that was held on Sunday. Voting was conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Originally a joint-venture factory built with Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Hyundai Motor Co., the factory had operated under a separate contract until last fall. This is the first local agreement at the plant since workers there voted to become part of the UAW's master national agreement with Chrysler last fall.
Veteran workers had always received signing bonuses when they ratified new local operating agreements under the old system, and union leaders said some were upset that those would not be part of this contract.
In addition, almost half of the approximately 650 hourly workers at the plant are new hires who have never been through a local contract negotiation before.
Morale at the factory suffered last year when Chrysler switched to a controversial rotating shift schedule that was popular with many of the new hires but despised by most veteran employees. Chrysler agreed to replace that with a more traditional shift schedule as part of its 2011 national agreement with the UAW.
Dundee produces engines for the Fiat 500 and Dodge Dart — Chrysler's most important new vehicle, which is just arriving in showrooms. Demand for both cars is high, and employees have been working a lot of overtime.
The company does not anticipate any impact on production, but plant managers were holding an emergency meeting to discuss the situation Thursday morning.
The UAW will hold a meeting of its own with workers next week to figure out why workers rejected the tentative agreement and decide how to proceed.
"I'm looking forward to the challenge of trying to right this ship," Zimmerman said.
From The Detroit News: Workers reject local operating agreement at Chrysler's Dundee plant | The Detroit News | detroitnews.com
