CAW chief says Chrysler contract deal possible today

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's autoworkers could seal a new labor agreement with Chrysler Group LLC on Wednesday night, union president Ken Lewenza said, in a huge shift in the tone of drawn-out, challenging negotiations.

Fiat SpA's Chrysler, the last of the Detroit Three automakers without a new contract, submitted a written proposal on Tuesday night that reignited the difficult talks, said Lewenza, who is the national president of the Canadian Autoworkers union (CAW).

"I absolutely think it's possible," to reach a deal on Wednesday, Lewenza told Reuters after a morning meeting with the CAW's Chrysler negotiating team. "There's still some very, very minor issues around the pattern that have to be dealt with. We're going to keep working at it over the course of the day."

Ford Motor Co workers ratified their deal at the weekend, while General Motors Co employees vote on Wednesday and Thursday.

Chrysler, which has more than 8,000 unionized workers in Canada, declined to comment on the negotiations.

Lewenza declined to say how the two sides would resolve a Chrysler demand to eliminate a cost of living increase and adjust lump sum payments that form key elements in the deals with Ford and GM.

"It's too sensitive right now," Lewenza said. "The fact of the matter is one little miscommunication could stop the momentum and I'm not prepared to do that."

Lewenza will be in Oshawa, Ontario, as CAW workers vote on their deal with GM, but he said he will stay in touch with Chrysler throughout the day and meet with the company in Toronto at 6:30 p.m. (2230 GMT) on Wednesday.

The CAW reached an agreement with Ford on September 17, and used that deal to set the pattern for deals with GM and Chrysler in an effort to ensure that no company has a labor cost advantage over its rivals.

Chrysler argued that, as the smallest and most vulnerable of the Detroit Three, it could not afford Ford's framework deal and needed to eliminate any increase in fixed costs, Lewenza has said. It also wanted flexibility on the timing and structure of lump sum bonus payments that total C$9,000 ($9,100), including a C$3,000 ratification bonus.

The CAW, which represents more than 20,000 workers at the Canadian plants of the three automakers, has a deal with Ford and GM that freezes wages until June 2016, when a cost of living increase will be introduced.

The agreement also starts new workers at 60 percent of the highest hourly rate of C$33.85, down from 70 percent in the last contract. It will take 10 years to reach the top of the pay scale, up from six years.

The CAW insisted that new employees eventually reach the top pay scale, in contrast to their U.S. counterparts at the United Auto Workers, who have a permanent two-tier wage structure.

New employees will also contribute more money to a pension plan that mixes elements of a defined benefit and defined contribution plan. A defined contribution plan for current employees is unchanged.

($1=0.98 Canadian)

(Reporting By Susan Taylor; Editing by Peter Galloway and Janet Guttsman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/caw-president-says-possible-reach-deal-chrysler-today-132330719--finance.html

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