February 11, 2009 4:13 PM
- Text
Auto Talks Resume Amid Optimism For Deal
(AP)
Talks have resumed between General Motors and the United Auto Workers amid optimism that the two sides are getting closer to agreeing.
A GM spokesman says talks stopped early this morning after a marathon 16-hour session. They resumed by midday.
The spokesman says thousands of UAW-represented GM workers have reported to work this morning at the automaker's 82 U.S. facilities.
Several local union leaders said yesterday that negotiators reported the talks were advancing.
The UAW represents about 960 workers at GM's Bowling Green, Kentucky, assembly plant where Corvettes and Cadillac XLRs are produced. Bowling Green is in south-central Kentucky, about 115 miles southwest of Louisville.
Several local union leaders said Sunday that negotiators reported the talks were advancing. The leaders, some of whom asked not to be identified because of the confidential nature of the talks, said they were told by UAW leadership in Detroit that if no agreement was reached Sunday then the union would go on strike.
But as the talks continued into Monday morning, the strike threat seemed to wane.
A UAW local in Arlington, Texas, told its members to report to work as scheduled Monday but said it is committed to a strike if necessary. In a joint statement sent to union members and the media, Local 276 leaders told members they expected negotiators either to wrap up talks or declare an impasse at the end of Sunday's negotiating session.
"We understand the issues are complex and the effects far-reaching," local president Enrique Flores Jr. and shop chairman Dwayne Humphries said in the statement. "Solutions are certainly proving to be difficult."
A message on a hotline at UAW Local 22 in Flint also told workers to report to work as scheduled Monday. The message told workers to ignore sign-up sheets for strike duty - a sign that a walkout is not imminent.
The UAW chose GM as its lead company and possible strike target Thursday. Typically, the union negotiates a contract with the lead company and then presses the other two to accept the same terms. Ford and Chrysler have extended their contracts indefinitely, although talks are continuing and either side could break off the contract extension with three days' notice.
Friday night, hours before the UAW contract with GM expired, factories across the country were mobilized for a possible strike starting at midnight.
But the call to union local leaders from UAW negotiators telling the rank and file to walk off their jobs never came.
Negotiators instead agreed to bargain hour by hour as the workers stood by and a midnight contract expiration deadline passed. By early Saturday, local leaders said they were told to go home and wait for updates from Detroit.
The UAW represents about 2,400 workers at GM's Lordstown, Ohio assembly plant, about 1,200 at an adjacent fabricating plant and about 500 in various nearby feeder plants. Lordstown is about 40 miles southeast of Cleveland.
This year's contract talks are considered crucial to the survival of GM and its U.S.-based counterparts, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC.
All three companies want to cut or eliminate what they say is about a $25-per-hour labor cost gap with their Japanese competitors.
The gap, the companies say, is one reason why the Detroit Three collectively lost about $15 billion last year, forcing them to restructure by shedding workers and closing factories.
The central issue in this year's talks has been skyrocketing health care costs. Automakers have been pushing the union to take over responsibility for retirees' health care, an unfunded expense estimated at more than $90 billion for GM, Ford and Chrysler.
Automakers want to pay billions into a union-run trust that would pay retiree health care bills, and both sides have been wrangling over how much the automakers would contribute to the trust, according to people who have been briefed on the talks.
A local UAW leader said early Saturday the union is also seeking guarantees for future work at U.S. plants in exchange for taking over health care. The local leader and the other people who were briefed on the talks spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.
If the union takes on the health care costs, the companies could remove a huge liability from their books - potentially improving their credit ratings and stock prices.
Industry analysts have said they expect GM to offer the union 65 to 70 percent of the retiree health care obligation.
"I'm waiting patiently. We're in it for the long haul," said Douglas Rademacher, president of UAW Local 602 near Lansing. "We're planning for the worst, hoping for the best. We support the international union 100 percent."
The UAW still could strike GM, or the two sides could continue negotiating and workers would be covered by the terms of the old four-year contract.
A GM spokesman says talks stopped early this morning after a marathon 16-hour session. They resumed by midday.
The spokesman says thousands of UAW-represented GM workers have reported to work this morning at the automaker's 82 U.S. facilities.
Several local union leaders said yesterday that negotiators reported the talks were advancing.
The UAW represents about 960 workers at GM's Bowling Green, Kentucky, assembly plant where Corvettes and Cadillac XLRs are produced. Bowling Green is in south-central Kentucky, about 115 miles southwest of Louisville.
Several local union leaders said Sunday that negotiators reported the talks were advancing. The leaders, some of whom asked not to be identified because of the confidential nature of the talks, said they were told by UAW leadership in Detroit that if no agreement was reached Sunday then the union would go on strike.
But as the talks continued into Monday morning, the strike threat seemed to wane.
A UAW local in Arlington, Texas, told its members to report to work as scheduled Monday but said it is committed to a strike if necessary. In a joint statement sent to union members and the media, Local 276 leaders told members they expected negotiators either to wrap up talks or declare an impasse at the end of Sunday's negotiating session.
"We understand the issues are complex and the effects far-reaching," local president Enrique Flores Jr. and shop chairman Dwayne Humphries said in the statement. "Solutions are certainly proving to be difficult."
A message on a hotline at UAW Local 22 in Flint also told workers to report to work as scheduled Monday. The message told workers to ignore sign-up sheets for strike duty - a sign that a walkout is not imminent.
The UAW chose GM as its lead company and possible strike target Thursday. Typically, the union negotiates a contract with the lead company and then presses the other two to accept the same terms. Ford and Chrysler have extended their contracts indefinitely, although talks are continuing and either side could break off the contract extension with three days' notice.
Friday night, hours before the UAW contract with GM expired, factories across the country were mobilized for a possible strike starting at midnight.
But the call to union local leaders from UAW negotiators telling the rank and file to walk off their jobs never came.
Negotiators instead agreed to bargain hour by hour as the workers stood by and a midnight contract expiration deadline passed. By early Saturday, local leaders said they were told to go home and wait for updates from Detroit.
The UAW represents about 2,400 workers at GM's Lordstown, Ohio assembly plant, about 1,200 at an adjacent fabricating plant and about 500 in various nearby feeder plants. Lordstown is about 40 miles southeast of Cleveland.
This year's contract talks are considered crucial to the survival of GM and its U.S.-based counterparts, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC.
All three companies want to cut or eliminate what they say is about a $25-per-hour labor cost gap with their Japanese competitors.
The gap, the companies say, is one reason why the Detroit Three collectively lost about $15 billion last year, forcing them to restructure by shedding workers and closing factories.
The central issue in this year's talks has been skyrocketing health care costs. Automakers have been pushing the union to take over responsibility for retirees' health care, an unfunded expense estimated at more than $90 billion for GM, Ford and Chrysler.
Automakers want to pay billions into a union-run trust that would pay retiree health care bills, and both sides have been wrangling over how much the automakers would contribute to the trust, according to people who have been briefed on the talks.
A local UAW leader said early Saturday the union is also seeking guarantees for future work at U.S. plants in exchange for taking over health care. The local leader and the other people who were briefed on the talks spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.
If the union takes on the health care costs, the companies could remove a huge liability from their books - potentially improving their credit ratings and stock prices.
Industry analysts have said they expect GM to offer the union 65 to 70 percent of the retiree health care obligation.
"I'm waiting patiently. We're in it for the long haul," said Douglas Rademacher, president of UAW Local 602 near Lansing. "We're planning for the worst, hoping for the best. We support the international union 100 percent."
The UAW still could strike GM, or the two sides could continue negotiating and workers would be covered by the terms of the old four-year contract.
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