The United Automobile Workers union has cracked open the door a little wider to the kind of innovative deal on retiree health care benefits that Detroit auto companies would like to see. It also appears to have softened its stance on dealing with private equity firms, which could be good news for Cerberus Capital Partners as it prepares to complete its purchase of the Chrysler Group. The two steps came Friday, when the UAW and the United Steelworkers union reached four-year agreements with the Dana Corporation, one of the nation?s biggest auto parts companies, which is operating under bankruptcy protection. Those deals help position Dana to reorganize ? and give a glimpse of the kind of steps the UAW is willing to consider, at least in the case of companies in dire straits.
See "U.A.W. Pact With Dana Signals Softer Stance", Micheline Maynard, The New York Times, July 8, 2007