(QUEEN CITY NEWS) – It’s day four of the United Auto Workers strike against the nation’s three biggest automakers.
Talks resumed Monday between the union and Chrysler’s parent company Stellantis.
General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis all held bargaining sessions this weekend.
The union’s president described the conversations as “minimal” and said there is a “long way to go.”
Labor negotiators are pushing for high salary increases to match the financial success of the automakers. It also wants defined pension benefits and to eliminate a tiered wage system.
On top of the wage increase, the union is also pushing for a four-day workweek. While economists say it is unlikely the union will win on this specific demand, it is putting the conversation around shorter workweeks back into the spotlight.
“I just think that it is an attractive perk that organization can, and I don’t think enough of them are taking advantage of it,” Director of Permanent Placement Services with Robert Half Rob Harding said.
Harding says he has suggested offering four-day work weeks to certain clients to be more competitive.
“Candidates are moving fast. Clients are having to be more flexible, and they are having to offer things that others aren’t to get a leg up,” Harding said. “I don’t see it becoming universal, but I do see it being something for more back-office roles, could possibly become a trend.”
“Four-day workweeks work in some situations and don’t in others,” Chief Scientists of Workplace Culture at Culture Partners Jessica Kriegel said. “The four-day work week is perfect for those organizations where people are moving with pace, they are taking accountability, and they feel a belonging as part of a larger group that they want to impact the world in some way that their organization is doing. They are connected to the purpose.”
