ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, September 5, 1996 TAG: 9609050118
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DETROIT
SOURCE: Associated Press
UNION'S LEADER CHARTS new course by keeping talks going with GM and Chrysler at the same time to maximize its leverage.
United Auto Workers President Stephen Yokich appears bent on breaking with tradition and keeping the Big Three guessing as national contract talks intensify.
The UAW began intense bargaining Wednesday with Ford Motor Co., which Yokich designated Tuesday as the target company. Union and Ford officials said they hope to complete a new national contract within the next 10 days.
Yokich has repeatedly deviated from UAW tradition since these negotiations, his first as president, began in June.
He began the initial talks with Ford, General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Corp. earlier than usual. He said he would announce the target company on Aug. 22, also earlier than in the past. But when that date came around, Yokich said he was delaying the announcement.
When he finally informed Ford's top negotiators that the company was the union's choice, he made no public announcement. But by Wednesday, union and company officials were acknowledging the obvious.
``Ford does not dispute that the UAW has named Ford as the lead company,'' company spokesman Jon Harmon said.
Union and industry officials also said Yokich ordered lower-level talks to continue at GM and Chrysler. In past negotiations, once a target was selected, the UAW recessed talks with the other two companies. When an agreement was reached with the target, it was used as a pattern for contracts with the other companies.
As another signal that the UAW is approaching these talks differently, Yokich has refused to use the terms ``target'' - he prefers ``lead company'' - or ``pattern bargaining.''
Harley Shaiken, a University of California-Berkeley labor professor who closely monitors the talks, said Yokich likes to keep everyone guessing. It works to his advantage.
``He's already broken any number of precedents in this set of contract talks,'' Shaiken said. ``If precedents get in the way of maximizing his leverage, he throws them away in an instant.''
By keeping Chrysler and GM at the table, Yokich is retaining his prerogative to change the target should the union reach an impasse at Ford, said Dale Brickner, a labor professor at Michigan State University.
``Yokich left the door ajar for Chrysler or GM to rush in with a better deal,'' Brickner said. ``I think the message is, `We think we can get a deal out of Ford, but if you guys still want to be in the poker game, we'll sit down at the table with you between now and the 14th and talk about it.'''
The current three-year contracts expire Sept. 14. UAW spokesman Karl Mantyla said Ford and the union would keep meeting daily until an agreement is reached.
Yokich's challenge is to get a contract that covers the entire industry while recognizing each company's different competitive status. Shaiken said the decision to keep bargaining with all three companies allows the UAW to get a reaction from GM and Chrysler to any Ford proposals before they are included in a signed contract.
``He'll push the envelope at Ford, but he's not going to try to rip it,'' Shaiken said. ``He realizes whatever he gets at Ford he's got to sell at GM.''
Conventional wisdom said cash-rich Chrysler would be the likely target. But Chrysler reportedly was less willing to consider limits on outsourcing, and when the Canadian Auto Workers targeted Chrysler, the UAW turned to Ford and GM.
GM has the most UAW members of the Big Three, but also has a host of problems that make its contract the most difficult to negotiate.
The biggest issue of these talks is outsourcing, the practice of contracting for parts from outside, usually nonunion, suppliers. Ford and Chrysler outsource much more of their parts work than GM does.
In March, GM's North American operations were virtually shut down by a strike over outsourcing at two parts plants in Dayton, Ohio.
GM wants to buy more parts from outside suppliers to cut its costs, which are the highest of the Big Three. But Yokich is intent on stemming the loss of jobs covered by the UAW.
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. One of the first 1997 Ford Expedition utilityby CNBvehicles nears the end of its assembly line in Michigan, where talks
between the company and union leaders intensified on Wednesday.