Car News

Only days following workers ratified it, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne says he is unhappy with parts of the new labor agreement reached in between his corporation and the United Auto Workers union. Automotive News reports that Marchionne believes a two-tier wage plan is unsustainable and need to be ended when the Chrysler-UAW labor deal is renegotiated in 2015.

The two-tier program originated in 2007 so that Detroit’s Huge Three automakers (Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors) could pay entry-level workers lower wages of about $14 per hour. The concept was to trim costs and preserve the Detroit manufacturers competitive with their European and Asian competitors.

“We need to have to have 1 set of wage rates which clearly recognize the participation of our individuals in the profit generation of our persons in the residence,” Marchionne told Automotive News.

Below the new Chrysler-UAW agreement, wages for new hires will climb to a maximum of $19.28 per hour. Tier workers reportedly account for about 13 percent of Chrysler’s assembly workers.

UAW President Bob King also has said he desires to abolish the two-tier wage program. “It’s long been a value of the UAW that men and women doing the very same job need to make the exact same rate of pay,” he stated in an interview with PBS. At the same time, King says the UAW established the two-wage setup in order to “save” the Detroit automakers.

Marchionne and King reportedly worked together to remove the two-tier technique during this round of contract talks, but couldn’t reach an agreement. The two plan to strategy the idea once again when a new labor contract is negotiated in 2015.

Source: Automotive News