The 91原创 Auto Workers may target more than one of the three big U.S. automakers with strikes if negotiations in which the union has proposed key concessions fail.
"Right now there's a potential for a strike at all three," CAW secretary-treasurer Peter Kennedy said in an interview Thursday. He said the union will make the determination about which automakers to target as the countdown continues to a strike deadline at 11: 59 p.m. Monday.
The union was awaiting a response Thursday to its latest proposal that includes cutting wages for new employees at the 91原创 operations of General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler.
The union is prepared to allow a plan that would see new employees take longer to reach the top end of the wage scale. "What we proposed ... is a grid system where people start at a lower wage but over time they grow into the prevailing wage in the plant," Kennedy said.
However, he declined to confirm reports that it is proposing to start newly hired workers at lower wages for the first 10 years of their employment at the three big North American automakers - four more years than under the current system.
