Update: September 15
The Associated Press reports the UAW claims it is close to reaching a new contract with General Motors. GM won't give any further comments on where the talks remain.
Despite contract negotiations officially ending at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, General Motors and Chrysler are still reaching for a deal.
Bloomberg reported Wednesday afternoon that Ford and the UAW had already agreed to extend talks, which the media outlet expected would impact the bargaining process for the other two Detroit-based auto makers.
As Bloomberg predicted, the Detroit News reports both GM and Chrysler failed to reach an agreement on a new national contract. Since no deals were met, Chrysler’s going to extend their current contract for another week.
There are a number of issues being debated behind closed doors, some of which include entry level wages, increased profit sharing and more domestic jobs.
There are some reports that union workers are pushing for the reversal of concessions made in 2007 and 2009.
Auto analyst Mike Wall told NBC25 Thursday night the reversal of those concessions is unlikely however he says there are other benefits being proposed that would help the automakers and unions reach a deal.
"Those concessions were really a measure to get the companies inline with other national auto companies in the market. Some of that I don't think we're going to see return but the signing bonuses are going to go along way to help offset that. And we're going to see some profit sharing to help benefit the employees as the companies benefit," said Wall.
Wall added he thinks the automakers and the UAW will come to an agreement soon enough.
"GM and Chrysler have an agreement with the UAW. There is a no strike clause so they can't strike but if they come to an impasse they have to submit to binding arbitration. The union would not want to do that because in that process they would be compared to Japanese automakers and they already have better benefits and wages than those companies. The companies would want that because of how long that process would take and they don't want angry employees making cars."
On our previous story, we had several comments concerning the Big Three and the UAW. You can check out those comments by clicking here. We want to hear your input as well. Let us know below how you feel about these negotiations and the ongoing talks.
