DETROIT (AP) – With just a week left before contracts expire with Detroit’s three automakers, the United Auto Workers union says it hasn’t chosen a target company.
But President Dennis Williams said Monday he’ll pick between Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler before the contracts end on Sept. 14.
A target company becomes the focus of bargaining and could be hit with a strike if negotiations stall. A deal with one company also sets a general pattern for the others, although there currently are substantial differences between the three automakers.
Speaking after Detroit’s annual Labor Day parade, Williams didn’t address whether the contracts would be extended and gave no details about how the talks that cover about 140,000 workers are progressing.
“Everybody says to me ‘Dennis, have you picked a target?’ Yes. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler,” Williams said to applause during a post-parade speech. But afterward he told reporters that he would choose a single company by the time the current four-year contracts end.