U.S. AUTOWORKERS SET FOR TOUGH BARGAINING ROUND
The United Automobile Workers Union,
UAW, is asking local leaders to back a renewed drive for higher
wages in upcoming bargaining with the car and other major
industries while acknowledging that futher job losses are
inevitable as traditional U.S. manufacturing shrinks.
    The UAW will begin bargaining this summer on new contracts
covering some 380,000 members at General Motors Corp, the
world's largest corporation, and nearly 110,000 members at Ford
Motor Co, the number two U.S. automaker.
    National UAW labor contracts at both companies expire at
midnight September 14.
    The union is expected to chose one of the companies as a
possible strike target in early September to concentrate its
efforts.
    UAW president Owen Bieber was loudly cheered by some 3,000
local delegates at a special bargaining strategy convention
yesterday when he declared the union is ready to go to "war"
against the major auto makers in support of its goals.
    "It takes two to make peace, but only one to make war ...
and if it's war, the UAW will be ready for it. War against the
insecurity of layoff," the UAW chief said.
    In a 101-page document proposing its 1987 collective
bargaining program, the leadership of the 1.1 mln member union
urged "full resumption of our traditional wage formula" as "a
top priority in this round of bargaining."
    But the union concedes that increased foreign competition,
new technology and shifts to low-cost offshore production by
U.S. manufacturers will continue to cut the number of workers
in the motor vehicle and agricultural equipment industries.
    Union leaders told Reuters the 1987 round of bargaining
with GM and Ford will be one of the most difficult in the
51-year history of the union in view of GM's announced goal to
close plants it deems non-competitive and to increase its
purchase of parts from outside suppliers as part of a massive
program to reduce its costs by 10 billion dlrs and reverse the
profits decline it suffered the last two years.
    At Ford, where a record 3.3 billion dlrs in profits last
year swelled its cash reserves past eight billion dlrs,
analysts say the company's healthy position could make it a
tempting target for the union in its drive to increase wages.
    Labor executives for both GM and Ford have said they will
oppose any attempt to return to annual general wage increases
that were dropped in 1982 when the Detroit-based industry was
mired in a deep recession.
    But the UAW, pointing to a three pct pay increase to be
implemented later this year in the contract it negotiated with
Chrysler Corp after a 1985 strike, said it intends to seek full
reinstatement of annual percentage wage increases in this
year's bargaining with GM and Ford.
 Reuter
