SMILES and handshakes all around. On July 13th the bosses of General Motors and the United Automobile Workers (UAW) kicked off labour-contract negotiations, which occur every four years, between Detroit’s “Big Three” carmakers and the union that represents 140,000 of their workers. When the UAW last negotiated a pay deal in 2011 there was little to grin about. The carmakers were still reeling from the effects of the financial crisis, which drove both GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy—a fate that Ford only narrowly swerved. Then the union was in a conciliatory mood. Now that business is booming the UAW wants a share of the spoils.
America’s car industry is back. Over 17m vehicles will roll off dealers’ forecourts this year, close to an all-time high (see chart). The Big Three are raking in cash—between them they made net profits of over $7 billion in 2014. The UAW claims that the concessions it made in 2007, when carmakers were already in a deep financial hole, and again in 2011, are part of the reason that the good times have returned and that payment is due.
from The Economist: Business http://ift.tt/1HAw9S4
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