UAW Vows to Strike Chrysler if Talks Achieve No Progress

The United Auto Workers will strike Chrysler Corp. at midnight Tuesday if national labor negotiations continue at the current slow pace, UAW President Owen Bieber declared Saturday.

Bieber, in sharp contrast to his optimism earlier in the week, said Chrysler has been “dragging its feet” on the union’s demand that it match the labor contract pattern established a year ago at General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co.

Bieber said that he and Chrysler Chairman Lee A. Iacocca had met privately Friday but said the pace of the talks did not pick up and that the union plans no further statements. Chrysler said it would have no immediate reply to Bieber’s statements.

“I believe neither party wants a strike,” Bieber said. “But if the company doesn’t pick up its tempo, then that’s exactly where they’re going to end up.”

No Targets Mentioned

Bieber would not say whether a strike, if one is called, would be nationwide or against selected plants.

A year ago, the union was able to severely disrupt GM’s operations by striking strategic locations.

The contract covering 70,000 Chrysler workers at 32 U.S. plants expires at midnight Tuesday.

Bieber has avoided making that hour a firm strike deadline, saying that if the progress is being made, the old contract will be extended until a new one is reached.

However, he said Saturday that if the expiration comes and “there’s no momentum there, by the time we get to that deadline, there’s no reason to extend” the current contract.

“The time is running dangerously short,” Bieber said.

Chrysler’s separate contract with 10,000 Canadian workers expires simultaneously, and union officials in Toronto have been pessimistic about reaching a settlement. Midnight Tuesday is a formal strike deadline in Canada.

Operations Integrated

The auto maker’s operations are tightly integrated across the border, and a strike in either country would be felt in the other in a matter of days, Iacocca has said.

Bieber said Chrysler had failed to give the union an offer on the main issues of job security and curbs on the subcontracting of work outside the company.

The union leader also said the company has yet to reply to his rejection last week of its economic offer, in which the union seeks wage and benefit parity with workers at GM and Ford.

The specifics of the Chrysler offer were not released. Union sources, however, said it contained starting pay for new employees of 75% of the going wage, compared to 85% at GM and Ford.

The sources, who spoke on condition that they not be identified, said the progression of wage increases offered by Chrysler was slower than that at GM and Ford and that no detailed cost-of-living formula was offered.