Ford, GM and Chrysler are nearing a UAW-imposed agreement date and in what might be a show of force, UAW President Bob King told Automotive News that he didn't think a strike at Ford, or arbitration at GM or Chrysler would do any harm to the union's relationship with the affected company.
King was speaking from the UAW's experience with its strike against GM in 2007, which he said hasn't affected the two parties' ability to work cooperatively since then. The UAW is currently nearing a September 14 deadline with Ford, where the lack of an agreement could result in a strike from 41,000 union members, and GM and Chrysler, where a lack of an agreement would result in arbitration.
The UAW is asking the Big Three primarily for wage increases for its 112,000 members. Hourly union workers haven't had a wage increase since 2003. King told the Automotive News that more money for entry-level workers is one of his major concerns. King said that the $14 hourly wage is not enough for families to live on.
The Big Three for its part has said that it'd like to avoid wage increases so that they may remain competitive with foreign automakers like Volkswagen, Toyota and Honda, who have set up shop in the United States using non-unionized labor.
While King was adamant on wage increases for union workers, he did admit to Automotive News that he was more interested in, "maximizing overall compensation for workers, not necessarily wages." What King means, is that he'd be willing to settle for profit-sharing and performance bonuses, as well as some sort of wage increase and cost-of-living adjustment.
Even with mention of a potential strike, King did say he remained optimistic that the two sides could avoid such a conflict.