The deadline is here. The UAW’s contracts with Detroit’s three automakers expire tonight at one minute before midnight – and it’s Chrysler that is the UAW target for a pattern settlement, and a possible strike. The contract that covers some 141,000 workers expires and an agreement before the deadline is not expected, but the contract would probably be extended, at least temporarily, to try to avoid a strike.
The UAW wants hourly pay raises for the first time in several years. They also want to get rid of the current two-tiered pay structure that pays new hourly workers much less than higher seniority workers are paid. More than 40% of Chrysler workers are the cheaper workers. Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne is on record saying he would like to drop the two-tiered system. The talks have been ongoing with very little fanfare.