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Contract expires but GM, UAW talk

A deal seen as crucial to GM's survival rests on health care costs.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published September 16, 2007

DETROIT - General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers made progress at the bargaining table Saturday but still faced significant hurdles and weren't expected to agree on a new contract until later in the weekend.

GM's 73,000 U.S. autoworkers were without a contract as of midnight Friday and could go on strike at any time if negotiations break down. In Spring Hill, Tenn., hundreds of union members were at the local UAW hall Saturday, waiting for news.

"Members are very apprehensive. These are historic times and everybody realized that," said UAW Local 1853 president Mike O'Rourke. Workers have faith in the UAW's negotiating team, he added.

Some union subcommittees, which handle issues such as pensions, benefits and job security, have wrapped up talks, but an agreement wasn't expected Saturday because negotiators were still dealing with some key issues, according to a person who was briefed on the negotiations.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private, also confirmed that GM chairman and chief executive Rick Wagoner is actively involved in the talks.

Talks were ongoing Saturday evening, GM spokesman Tom Wickham said.

Several local union officials who have been in touch with bargainers said the outstanding issue is retiree health care expenses. GM wants the union to take over responsibility for retiree health care costs using a company-funded trust, and the union was asking for job guarantees in exchange for taking on the costs. The local officials spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about the talks.

Five of GM's 18 U.S. assembly plants were operating Saturday, Wickham said, including two plants in the Lansing area and one each in Flint, Wentzville, Mo., and Lordstown, Ohio. Only two plants in Flint and Lansing were scheduled to be running today.

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. Ford and Chrysler were also in talks over the weekend, but they extended their contracts with the UAW indefinitely Thursday after the UAW named GM the lead company in the negotiations. Once the union wraps up talks with GM, it will try to implement similar agreements at Ford and Chrysler.

The UAW is also fighting for its survival. The union represented 302,500 active workers during the last contract talks in 2003. This year, that number fell to 180,681.

[Last modified September 15, 2007, 23:51:37]