UAW Seeks to Claw Back Its Four-Year-Old Wage Concession

[xchrom]

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-05-25/uaw-seeks-to-claw-back-its-four-year-old-wage-concession.html

May 25 (Bloomberg) -- United Auto Workers Vice President Joe Ashton, who negotiates with General Motors Co., said he wants to raise the $14-an-hour entry-level wage for union members at assembly plants in talks this year.

The pay for new employees, about half of what senior workers get, is “not a middle-class wage,” Ashton said today in an interview after GM announced it will invest $69 million and add 2,500 jobs to start making two new models at the Detroit plant that builds the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid.

The UAW’s push in this year’s labor talks would seek to partially pull back on a concession made four years ago before the automakers have had a chance to hire many workers under the lower wage. The union is not seeking to eliminate the entry- level wage, which is paid to 3 percent of its members at the three largest U.S. car companies, Ashton said.

“In negotiations, there will be some conversations about moving these people up,” Ashton said. “We’re not looking to make these plants uncompetitive. It’s no good making $28 or $38 an hour if you don’t have a job.”

[Brickbat]

1. Oof -- good luck with that. It's hard to claw back what you've given away. On the other hand, I

like to see the effort.