Automotive News Canada - January 2020 - v2 - 9

* J A N U A R Y 2 020

Dias wondered why the UAW
chose to bargain with FCA first
CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PA GE

our history, that's our background, and that's who we
are. Nobody at any time suggested anything."
Unifor was formed
in 2013 as the Canadian
Auto Workers (CAW)
union merged with the
Communications, Energy
and Paperworkers Union of
Canada. The CAW split from
the UAW in
1985, in part,
over disagreements
about concessions the
American
union
agreed to in
bargaining.
Dias said
"When the
Unifor's
UAW in 2015
structure
selected Fiat
would also
Chrysler to
prevent such
establish
a scheme
the pattern,
from takI have to
ing place in
admit,
personally, I
Canada, due
thought, 'Why to a lack of
in the hell are joint trainthey doing
ing centres
that?'"
in Canada.
FILE PHOTO
U.S. prosecutors since
2017 have accused former
UAW officials and FCA executives of embezzling millions
of dollars from joint training
centres run by the union and
automaker.
"It's not a situation where
people on the union side and
management side have credit
cards from there," Dias said.
"It's a totally different system."

UNUSUAL TARGET
GM's lawsuit alleges that
it suffered significant financial damages. It pointed to
2015 bargaining between
the Detroit Three and the
UAW as an example, when
the union selected FCA as
the first of the Detroit Three
automakers to negotiate
with, despite the fact that
FCA had the weakest financial situation of the three.
The first contract sets a
pattern for the other two to
follow, so the union has historically picked the automaker it believes it can get
the strongest deal with. That
automaker is often the one
with the best finances.
"When the UAW in 2015
selected Fiat Chrysler to
establish the pattern, I
have to admit, personally,
I thought, 'Why in the hell
are they doing that?' It was
unusual to say the least,"
Dias said.
"Here in Canada, we have
more Fiat Chrysler members
than any of the other Big
Three. That would be a less
unusual decision for us since
that's where most of our
members are employed.
"But still, the objective
is, who can you really negotiate the best contract with
to establish the framework?
And Fiat Chrysler is still sit-

ting at No. 3."
Al Iacobelli, FCA's former labour-relations chief, is
among the former FCA executives named in the lawsuit.
Iacobelli, who was sentenced
in 2018 to 66 months in prison,
retired from FCA ahead of 2015
labour talks with the UAW
before being hired by GM as its
labour-relations chief.
Iacobelli was at GM while
the automaker negotiated its
2016 contract with Unifor.
A GM spokesman told sib-

ling publication Automotive
News that the automaker was
unaware of any wrongdoing
when it hired Iacobelli, who
admitted to embezzling more
than $1 million.
Kristin Dziczek, vice-president of industry, labour and
economics at the Center for
Automotive Research in Ann
Arbor, Mich., said fallout from
the FCA-GM lawsuit could be
one of many factors at play
when the Detroit automakers
and Unifor bargain in 2020.
"Is there any fallout from
that? Is there a lack of trust in
the GM relationship because of
Iacobelli's involvement?"
The lawsuit and the investigation into the UAW figure

Former FCA executive
Al Iacobelli pleaded guilty
in Detroit federal court in
January 2018 to violating
U.S. labour laws.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

to be among several outside
factors Unifor will deal with
during 2020 talks, including
the potential ratification of
the new North American free-

trade agreement, a declining
new-vehicle market, the 2020
U.S. presidential election and
the merger between FCA and
PSA.
But the fact that Unifor bargains after the UAW will likely be the most important factor in determining which product mandates the union might
receive, Dziczek said.
"There are a lot of things
that are going to be different in
2020 negotiations with Unifor,
but going second is always
troublesome," she said. "And
being smaller than the UAW,
the UAW always sucks up all
of the air out of the room, and
what's left is what Unifor can
work with." - ANC

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Automotive News Canada - January 2020 - v2

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