UAW ready to wheel and deal
After months of discussions, parts maker Delphi came to an agreement with the United Auto Workers last week. But the UAW will be looking for better deal when it sits down to renegotiate with the Big Three automakers later this month, Alisa Roth reports.
A Delphi worker leaves a meeting at the UAW Local 913 hall in Sandusky, Ohio last year where officials addressed questions from employees. (J.D. Pooley/Getty Images)
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Scott Jagow: Here in the states, car sales numbers for June come out today. Those figures might take a backseat to what's going on with the union. The United Auto Workers struck a deal with parts maker Delphi last week. Now, the UAW will try to work things out with Ford, GM and Chrysler. Alisa Roth reports.
Alisa Roth: The union whittled down the paycuts Delphi wanted for its workers, but the cuts are still deep enough that some worry the Big Three will have to follow along.
Harley Shaiken: The UAW is going to be at great pains to argue that Delphi is not a template for what should happen in Detroit this summer and early fall.
Harley Shaiken studies labor relations at UC Berkeley. He says both sides will have to compromise, but there's no reason to believe workers at the Big Three will be forced to follow Delphi's example either.
Shaiken: It would be a mistake to read Delphi as sort of a prototype or a prelude to the Detroit negotiations. Delphi's in bankruptcy, it's in the auto parts sector, ita€™s in a very different set of circumstances than the Detroit Three.
Still, the issues are similar: high wages, expensive health care and other benefits are blunting the U.S. auto industry's competitive edge.
In New York, I'm Alisa Roth for Marketplace.
