Automotive News reports that Mitsubishi will have to give UAW workers at its Normal, Ill plant a $1.60/hr raise because it doesn’t yet know what vehicle or platform it plans to build there in the future. Mitsubishi’s 2008 contract with the UAW required the disclosure, but the Japanese automaker requested an extension which the union membership proceeded to vote down. Because the extension failed, Mitsubishi is required by the terms of its contract to raise hourly pay to $25.60/hr. The plant in question currently builds Mitsubishi Eclipse, Endeavor and Galant models, which have collectively sold 11,215 units through August of this year. And thanks to the combination of low demand for Normal-built products, and the union’s failure to extend the decision period, it seems as though Mitsubishi may just walk away from the plant.
It sounds like it’s not going to be a very happy Labor Day this year, for Local 2488. But hey, at least they’ll get an extra $1.60 per hour until Mitsu decides to shut the place down. Still, with Mitsubishi averaging about 4,500 sales per month in the US and falling (for comparison, that’s less volume than the Infiniti G37, the Dodge Avenger or the Volvo Brand), you’d think the union might give their employers time to come up with a new product. Or, as we so often find ourselves saying around here, not.
