MCALLEN, Texas - Mike Willis says he has, for a few years, provided advice to manufacturing firms about how to deal with unions.
He says he has told them that the time to worry about union activity is not when the union is starting a wage campaign. He said the firms need to pay attention to how they treat their workers all the time.
The executive director of the South Texas Manufacturers Association spoke about the recent wage package agreed by the so-called Big Three - General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler - and the unions. He mentioned the deal in his monthly report, which was given at the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel in McAllen.
“I've mentioned this to a lot of my manufacturing friends over the last year or two. The time to worry about a union campaign is not when it's underway. It's all the time, by treating your people right and good communications and providing the best paying benefits you can afford to,” Willis said.
“I think it's almost not even needed to be said because the labor market has been so tight (that) everybody’s paying what they can afford to attract and keep people.”
As for the Big Three, Willis said: “Everybody knows the Big Three finished settling their labor contract issues with the United Auto Workers I think they ended up with generally about a 25% pay raise over four years. Some pretty ratifying bonuses to sweeten the pot for them to vote yes. And they didn't get the work for four days and get paid for five they wanted. They didn't get a return from 401k’s back to defined benefit pension plans. But, it's gonna to cost the automotive industry quite a bit of money. The workers are gonna get a lot better deal.”
Willis continued: “I think the big deal was, for years, since 2008, they've had a dual wage structure where new hires started at a much lower rate of pay than the experienced workers. And this (new) contract is dramatically increasing the pay for those people and bringing them up to par with the others.
“So, I don't know how it's going to hit the profits, but it's going to be challenging for the Big Three. And I guess the bad news is that the UAW is all pumped up and announced they are going after Toyota, Tesla, Kia and Hyundai next.
“So, I'm not knocking the president. He refers to himself as the most pro union president in the country's history. I've mentioned this to a lot of my manufacturing friends over the last year or two. The time to worry about a union campaign is not when it's underway. It's all the time, by treating your people right and good communications and providing the best paying benefits you can afford to.
“I think it's almost not even needed to be said because the labor market has been so tight (that) everybody’s paying what they can afford to attract and keep people.”
Editor's Note: Here is an audio recording of Mike Willis' executive directors report for November to the South Texas Manufacturers Association:
