Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

GM and union are close to contract deal

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published September 24, 2007

DETROIT - Negotiators for General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers were close to finalizing the details of a new contract Sunday after 20 straight days of talks, according to a local union official who is being briefed on the discussions.

The two sides have wrapped up work on most issues and were down to determining how much money GM must put into a trust fund for retiree health care that will be managed by the UAW, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks are private. The official expected a final deal could be reached as early as late Sunday, although others said it could take longer.

"My sense is they are close. I think this is the end game," said Harley Shaiken, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley who specializes in labor issues and has been closely following the talks. "They may be approaching a resolution, but if that's in the next two hours or the next two days, it's hard to say. There are a lot of complex issues yet to be resolved."

The health care fund - known as a Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association, or VEBA - would be a groundbreaking change for the auto industry and has been the major issue in this year's negotiations. GM has about $51-billion in unfunded retiree health care costs, but the company isn't required to put the full amount into the VEBA. The UAW and GM have been wrangling over how much GM should put in and how much can be paid in cash or in stock.

Sunday marked the ninth day since GM's contract with the UAW had been scheduled to expire. The contract has been renewed on an hour-by-hour basis since then.

UAW spokesman Roger Kerson did not respond to a message for comment.

[Last modified September 23, 2007, 23:43:25]