By Christina Rogers
The United Auto Workers president said Thursday the wave of new
auto investment in Mexico is problematic and will be central to
labor talks this summer with the Detroit car makers.
Dennis Williams, speaking to reporters in Detroit, said he
recently met with White House officials to press his concerns,
noting that he would like to see the U.S. to put more pressure on
Mexico to improve wages and labor conditions.
"Mexico is going to continue to be an issue for us," Mr.
Williams said at a ceremonial handshake event marking the opening
of contract talks with Ford Motor Co. "They've got good laws that
they don't enforce."
Car makers, hoping to take advantage of lower wage rates and
proximity to the U.S. market, have announced billions of dollars in
new auto investment in Mexico over the last few years -- often at
the expensive of allocating new jobs to the U.S.
Two weeks ago, Ford revealed plans to move production of its
compact Focus from Michigan to another location outside the U.S.,
likely Mexico. General Motors Co. has also announced plans to
invest $3.6 billion through 2018 in Mexico, seeking to double its
production capacity there.
"Am I happy about it? No," Mr. Williams said. "I want everything
to be built in the United States of America, including tennis
shoes."
His comments come as the UAW gets to work negotiating a new
four-year labor agreement with Ford, General Motors Co. and Fiat
Chrysler Automobiles NV. Securing jobs for U.S. workers will be a
priority for the UAW at a time when the union is also seeking
better wages for the 137,000 members working at the U.S. auto
makers' plants.
Ford executives say the company has already exceeded the
commitments made in the last 2011 agreement, adding 15,000 jobs and
investing $6.2 billion in U.S. auto plants over the last four
years.
"We have to look at our overall business," said Ford's
manufacturing chief John Fleming. "We have to look at how can we
best improve profitability of the company."
Write to Christina Rogers at christina.rogers@wsj.com
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