UAW Poised To Use White Collar Wages As Excuse To Strike

A grievance gambit that the UAW is running at Ford Motor Co. during the home stretch of national contract negotiations is a risky one for UAW President Bob King.

If this blows up in his face it could cost Ford a strike by hourly workers and damage King's initiative to organize the U.S. assembly plants of German and Asian automakers.

To recap: In early 2010, the UAW filed a grievance against Ford, signed by 35,000 hourly workers, alleging that the carmaker acted improperly when it restored merit pay, tuition reimbursement and a 401(k) match to salaried workers without doing the same for UAW-represented workers.