Daily Briefs . . .

UAW president rejects lower-tier of wages

DETROIT (AP) — The leader of the United Auto Workers union has rejected a third tier of lower wages for members who make auto parts.

Speaking Wednesday at the union's national bargaining convention in Detroit, President Dennis Williams said the UAW already has too many tiers of lower wages.
Williams was responding to reports that General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. may propose a third tier of pay. He already is under pressure from union members to end a second tier of wages that's about half the $28 per hour made by longtime workers.

He told delegates that he heard people talking about the third tier, which would pay less than the $15.28 starting wage for second-tier workers, on their way in to the convention center Wednesday morning.

“I’m thinking they got too many damn tiers now,” said Williams, who received a standing ovation.

Actually, a third tier of wages already is in place at several General Motors factories in the Detroit area for a small number of workers who build battery packs and place parts in the right sequence to be assembled on cars. Without the lower tier, the work may have gone to Mexico or another country with lower labor costs.

Williams told members about bridging the gap in wages, an apparent reference to the first and second tiers. But he also said they’re competing in a global economy.

Many at the convention spoke in favor of pay raises for veteran workers. Longtime UAW workers have not had an hourly pay raise since 2007, although they have received hefty annual profit sharing checks. But there’s no guarantee of getting checks every year.

Williams didn’t address pay raises in his speech, but has said in the past that there are ways to give raises and keep the companies competitive.
In his speech, he said workers shared in getting the auto companies through bad times and “we must equally share in the good times.”

Contract talks with between Fiat Chrysler, GM, Ford and the UAW start this summer. The union represents about 137,000 workers at the three companies. The current contract expires in September.



School sued after bus driver takes bumpy road less traveled

OSCODA, Mich. (AP) — The kids on the school bus went bounce, bounce, bounce. And that has led to a lawsuit in northern Michigan's Iosco County.

The state appeals court says the case can go forward against Oscoda Area Schools and the driver, who took her bus off the normal rural route apparently because students liked the dips in Wentworth Road.

The bus went through several dips before hitting one that sent students high out of their seats in October 2011. At least two kids were bleeding.

An Iosco County judge declined to dismiss the lawsuit, and the appeals court says it was the right call. In a 3-0 decision released Wednesday, the court says jurors can decide whether the driver demonstrated a lack of concern over possible injury.

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