UAW President Seeks Deal Without A "Strike Target"

by Jeff Gilbert
WWJ AutoBeat Reporter

UAW President Bob King says he'd like to settle this year's contract talks with the three major auto companies without having to choose one to take the lead, what's traditionally called a "strike target."

"People talk about a strike target.  I don't have a strike target," King said in a speech to the Automotive Press Association.  "We want to do all three of the companies positively.  We want the consumer to know that we are as committed to them during these negotiations as we are to our membership."

Talks begin in the summer.  Around Labor Day, the union traditionally tries to work out an agreement with one company that it can pattern at the others.  But things are a little different this year, because the UAW has a "no strike" clause at Chrysler and General Motors.

King says if they have to take those two companies to arbitration, he'll consider it a failure.  But that doesn't mean the union is trying to settle the deal before the mid-September deadline, as some publications have reported.

"If it happens it happens," King said.  "That's never been the case.  I don't know what will happen.  There's no commitment and no plan to settle early."

King says the union has been talking continuously with all three companies, laying the groundwork for the upcoming talks.

"Relations are very good," he said.   "We're going to try to problem solve, and there are a lot of problems and a lot of issues to work through.   I don't know if it will be very realistic to think it will get done early."

King refused to get into specific details of what will be discussed in the contract talks.  The union wants to win back some of the concessions it has made.  The companies want to tie compensation to performance.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally recently defended his $26 million dollar pay package as being an example of how pay is tied to performance.  Ford posted a $2.6 billion dollar first quarter profit, after earning $6.6 billion last year.

But King says the executive compensation issue could make the negotiations more difficult than they have to be.

"I think Alan Mulally is a good CEO," he said.  "He's done a lot of good, but he's got a blind spot here.  He does not see the harm that he's doing to his own cache' within both salaried and hourly at Ford.  And, what he's doing making it more difficult for us for the upcoming negotiations."

Follow Jeff Gilbert on Twitter @jefferygilbert