PROGRESS REPORTED IN WRITERS' STRIKE

Published reports indicate that most major hurdles have been cleared in the strike of television and film writers that has lasted more than three months. Many observers expect the strike to be settled in the next week or two.

From The New York Times:

Writers walked out on Nov. 5 after failing to reach a new contract with producers in months of difficult bargaining. Talks resumed briefly in December, but quickly broke off again. The latest round of talks came more than two weeks ago in the wake of a tentative contract agreement between producers and the Directors Guild of America.

That deal confronted many of the same issues that have troubled writers — including difficult questions related to pay for digital distribution of shows and movies — and paved the way for Friday’s movement toward a deal.

A final sticking point had been compensation for ad-supported television programs that are streamed over the Internet after their initial broadcast. Companies were seeking a period during which they could stream such shows without paying a residual, and wanted to peg payments for a year of streaming at the $1,200 level established in the directors’ contract. Writers were seeking 1.2 percent of the distributors’ revenue from such streams, to ensure they would participate in any revenue gold mine discovered on the Web. How that issue was finally resolved in the informal talks remained unclear.

LETTERMAN SEEKS DEAL WITH HIS WRITERS

David Letterman is seeking a deal with writers to put his show back on the air before his competitors.

From The New York Times:

In what may be the first break in the entertainment writers’ strike, David Letterman is pursuing a deal with the Writers Guild of America that would allow his late-night show on CBS to return to the air in early January with the usual complement of material from his writers, even if the strike is still continuing.

Executives from Mr. Letterman’s production company said Saturday that they were hopeful they would have an interim agreement in place with the guild as early as this week. That could potentially put Mr. Letterman at an enormous advantage over most of his late-night colleagues.

UNIONIZED MOVIE AND TV WRITERS TO STRIKE MONDAY

From The New York Times:

Hollywood’s two decades of labor peace shattered Thursday night, as movie and television writers declared they would embark on an industrywide strike for the first time since 1988, when both writers and Teamsters walked out.

The writers’ union announced this afternoon that the strike would begin on Monday morning.

Unless there is a last-minute settlement, the strike will pit union writers, whose position has been eroded by reality television and galloping technological change, against studios and networks that are backed by big corporate owners like General Electric and News Corp., but are also unsure of the future.

The walk-out threatens an instant jolt to television talk shows like “Late Show With David Letterman,” which rely on guild writers to churn out monologues and skits. “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” “The Colbert Report,” “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” and “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” will all revert to repeats on Monday, at least for the time being.

And if the strike drags on, audiences could see the eventual shutdown of soap operas, TV series and movie productions, as they exhaust their bank of ready scripts.

In the near term, a writers’ strike will have an immediate impact on more than 200,000 workers in the movie and TV industry here and the thousands more who produce or sell entertainment elsewhere in the United States and abroad. The dispute may also signal more labor trouble to come, as directors and actors face similar issues when their contracts expire next June.

UAW AND FORD REACH TENTATIVE AGREEMENT

From The New York Times:

The United Automobile Workers union reached a tentative agreement with the Ford Motor Company early this morning after a 41-hour marathon bargaining session, completing a series of new contracts with the American auto companies.

No details of the deal were released, but it is expected to resemble contracts reached earlier this fall for General Motors and Chrysler LLC.

Unlike the G.M. and Chrysler contracts, the agreement at Ford was reached without a strike. Analysts say that Ford, which lost $12.6 billion last year, is the weakest of the Detroit auto companies.

"Our bargaining committee came through for our active and retired members," the U.A.W.'s president, Ron Gettelfinger, said in a statement. He said that its bargaining team had "encouraged Ford to invest in product and people while addressing the economic needs of our active and retired members."

"We face enormous challenges – and we also have enormous potential," said U.A.W. Vice President Bob King, who directs the union's National Ford Department. "Our goals for this contract were to win new product and investment, to enhance job security and protect seniority – and we made progress in all these areas."

Any job guarantees will be closely scrutinized by union members at Ford, who have watched G.M. and Chrysler cut jobs since their new contracts were reached.

Ford had no immediate comment. Union leaders will review the contract next week, before it is presented to members for a vote.

UAW RATIFIES CHRYSLER DEAL

From USA Today:

UAW members have ratified the national labor agreement with Chrysler LLC, the union said in a statement [Saturday].

The announcement comes shortly after voting ended at Chrysler's Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois. Workers there voted to reject the agreement with 55% of voters against it, a person familiar with the results said.

Belvidere's Local 1268 was the final union local to vote but the defeat was apparently not enough to overcome the number of yes votes already logged.

According to a statement issued by the UAW, the contract passed overall with 56% in favor among production workers and 51% in favor among skilled trade workers.

In addition, 94% of office and clerical workers and 79% of engineering workers voted to approve the deal.

CHRYSLER WORKERS GO ON STRIKE

From The New York Times:

The United Automobile Workers union walked off the job at Chrysler LLC plants nationwide this morning after the two sides failed to reach agreement on a new four-year contract by a union-set deadline.

Chrysler has about 48,000 workers in the United States. About 12,000 workers are exempt from the strike, however, while their plants are temporarily closed by Chrysler.

The strike is the second in two weeks by the union against a Detroit automaker. Workers at General Motors struck for two days before the union reached a tentative deal with G.M. on Sept. 26.

UAW SETS WEDNESDAY STRIKE DEADLINE FOR CHRYSLER

From The New York Times:

The United Automobile Workers union has set an 11 a.m. Wednesday deadline in its bid to reach a new four-year contract with Chrysler, a Chrysler spokeswoman said this morning.

The deadline appeared to be an effort to keep the talks from dragging on for days as they did at General Motors last month, where the contract covering 73,000 workers expired on Sept. 14. After talking for nine days, the union walked out for two days before reaching a deal on Sept. 26.

People with direct knowledge of the negotiations said Sunday night that a deadline had been set, and the deadline was confirmed today by Michele Tinson, a Chrysler spokeswoman.

If the deadline passes without a deal, the union could strike the company, or it could extend its contract hour to hour, as it initially did at G.M., one person with direct knowledge of the talks said today. The U.A.W. could also set aside the talks with Chrysler and seek a deal first with the Ford Motor Company, said this person, who spoke on anonymity because the discussions are private.

The union and Chrysler officials intensified their talks on Friday and continued through the weekend. Discussions recessed late Sunday and resumed this morning.

GM & UAW REACH TENTATIVE AGREEMENT

From The New York Times:

The United Automobile Workers union and General Motors reached a landmark agreement early today, ending a two-day strike. The key provision of the new contract is a health care trust that would get G.M.’s massive liability off its books.

The deal was announced by the company and the union in separate statements. The U.A.W. had walked out on G.M. on Monday morning, but production will resume this afternoon.

G.M. said the tentative agreement was reached at 3:05 a.m. Eastern. The U.A.W. recessed the strike and said if the contract was not ratified, workers could return to picket lines. The agreement included a memorandum of understanding to establish an independent health care trust, as well as other changes to the national agreement.

G.M. said implementation of the trust would be subject to court approval, as well as a review by G.M.’s accounting for the trust by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The memorandum apparently establishes the principle of the trust, and allows the two sides to complete its details later. Analysts had predicted the union and the company might have to take that step, because of the complexity of such a trust.

“There’s no question this was one of the most complex and difficult bargaining sessions in the history of the G.M./U.A.W. relationship,” Rick Wagoner, G.M.’s chief executive, said in a statement.

The union’s president, Ron Gettelfinger, said the new contract “will absolutely protect their jobs and keep jobs from being reduced.” He said, while not offering specifics, that the number of jobs at G.M. would be “pretty much the same if not higher” when the contract concludes in 2011.

Later, Mr. Gettelfinger confirmed in a radio interview that there was a signing bonus for workers, but declined to state its size. He also declined comment on reports that the contract contained a two-tier wage program, with sharply lower rates for any new workers hired by G.M.

GM UAW WORKERS GO ON STRIKE

From AP via MSNBC:

Thousands of United Auto Workers walked off the job at General Motors plants around the country Monday in the first nationwide strike against the U.S. auto industry since 1976.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said that job security was the top unresolved issue, adding that the talks did not stumble over a groundbreaking provision establishing a UAW-managed trust that will administer GM's retiree health care obligations. Gettelfinger complained about "one-sided negotiations."

Workers walked off the job and began picketing Monday outside GM plants after the late morning UAW strike deadline passed. The UAW has 73,000 members who work for GM at 82 U.S. facilities, including assembly and parts plants and warehouses.

General Motors Corp. had been pushing hard in the negotiations for the health care trust — known as a Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association, or VEBA — so it could move $51 billion in unfunded retiree health costs off its books. GM has nearly 339,000 retirees and surviving spouses.

"This strike is not about the VEBA in any way shape or form," Gettelfinger said at an afternoon news conference in Detroit.

"The No. 1 issue here is job security," Gettelfinger later said, adding that the union also was fighting to preserve workers' benefits.

It remained to be seen what effect the strike would have on the automaker and consumers. The company has sufficient stocks of just about every product to withstand a short strike, according to Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis for J.D. Power and Associates.