Big Three Said To Be Talking Profit Sharing

There are reports that improved profit sharing could be at the heart of the next UAW contract with the domestic three auto companies.

Bloomberg news is reporting that the auto companies see improvements in profit sharing as a way to reward workers, without hurting their own newfound profitability.  The union has been saying that as the industry recovers, it wants its workers to share in the gains.

Both General Motors and Chrysler have "no strike" clauses in their latest contracts with the union, worked out before the companies 2009 bankruptcies.  Ford tried to get similar concessions, but they were voted down by the union.

It's likely that workers for General Motors and Ford will get profit sharing checks for 2010, as both companies are making money again.  Chrysler, however, is expected to break even for the year.

The union is said to be looking at improvements in profit sharing, to reward workers for concessions, including a lower second tier wage.

"We had to swallow the hard lumps in our throats and get the job done," said UAW Vice President General Holyfield.  "After all, the major component in that whole set of negotiations was to maintain the jobs."

UAW President Bob King has made rewarding workers for their givebacks a priority of the upcoming talks.  But, on several occasions he's made it a point of saying that he understands that an auto company's success is in the workers best interest.

"The crisis in the auto industry had its roots in behaviors and cultures, both within the companies and within the union, that were outmoded and unsuited to the 21st century," King said, in a speech to the Management Briefing Seminars, last August.

Prior to the start of official talks next summer, the union will survey its workers on their priorities, and discuss those goals at a bargaining convention.

The current contracts expire in September.