GM, CAW settle contract and avoid a strike

GM and the Canadian Auto Workers came to an agreement yesterday, avoiding Tuesday’s 11:59 PM strike deadline. The union was able to eek out a small yearly raise, while GM gained the ability to cut 1,000 jobs (those cuts are said to come mostly through attrition). Now that all three automakers have wrapped up their union negotiations in Canada, what have we learned that might apply to the 2007 UAW talks? It would appear that the union will have to settle for essentially flat wages and benefits, while the automakers still apparently lack the leverage with the union to make the changes they say they need to control costs.

By eric@bryantperformance.com
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GM and the Canadian Auto Workers came to an agreement yesterday, avoiding Tuesday’s 11:59 PM strike deadline. The
union was able to eek out a small yearly raise, while GM gained the ability to cut 1,000 jobs (those cuts are said to
come mostly through attrition). Now that all three automakers have wrapped up their union negotiations in Canada, what
have we learned that might apply to the 2007 UAW talks? It would appear that the union will have to settle for
essentially flat wages and benefits, while the automakers still apparently lack the leverage with the union to make the
changes they say they need to control costs.