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Contract Allows GM to Shut 2 Plants

Several others also in jeopardy in deal for job protection

By Colleen Barry,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 1, 2007 6:12 AM CDT
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(Newser) – The tentative new contract between GM and United Auto Workers allows the company to shutter two plants and possibly several other facilities, according to a copy of the pact obtained by the AP. The union concessions on plants in Indianapolis and suburban Detroit were made in exchange for guarantees of new product lines in other union-represented plants. Union members will begin voting on whether to accept the contract this week.

"The UAW didn't win anything," said one union critic. "The plants that are allowed to stay operating were already allowed to stay open." The head of the union, however, said GM has offered workers "unprecedented product guarantees." Under the deal, GM won the right to shift past and current health care costs into a union-run trust, and to pay new non-production employees lower wages.

United Auto Workers members meet at the Lansing Center to discuss the tentative contract with General Motors Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007 in Lansing, Mich. Local union leaders on Friday endorsed a tentative agreement between General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers that requires GM to pay out at least...
United Auto Workers members meet at the Lansing Center to discuss the tentative contract with General Motors Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007 in Lansing, Mich. Local union leaders on Friday endorsed a tentative...   (Associated Press)
United Auto Workers member Steve Dawes, center, picks up copies of the tentative contract with General Motors during a UAW meeting at the Lansing Center Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007 in Lansing, Mich. Local union leaders on Friday endorsed a tentative agreement between General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers...
United Auto Workers member Steve Dawes, center, picks up copies of the tentative contract with General Motors during a UAW meeting at the Lansing Center Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007 in Lansing, Mich. Local...   (Associated Press)
United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger shows off a copy of the UAW/GM Report during a news conference at the UAW Solidarity House in Detroit, Friday, Sept. 28, 2007. Gettelfinger said the union won unprecedented product guarantees and a total moratorium on outsourcing in its tentative contract agreement with General...
United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger shows off a copy of the UAW/GM Report during a news conference at the UAW Solidarity House in Detroit, Friday, Sept. 28, 2007. Gettelfinger said the union...   (Associated Press)
Bill Bagwell, a 22-year veteran at the General Motors service parts operation in Ypsilanti, Mich., walks the picket line with co-workers, Monday, Sept. 24, 2007. The United Auto Workers has launched a national strike against GM. It's the first nationwide strike during auto contract negotiations since 1976, when Ford Motor...
Bill Bagwell, a 22-year veteran at the General Motors service parts operation in Ypsilanti, Mich., walks the picket line with co-workers, Monday, Sept. 24, 2007. The United Auto Workers has launched a...   (Associated Press)
The General Motors Powertrain facility is shown in Ypsilanti, Mich., Monday morning, Sept. 24, 2007.
The General Motors Powertrain facility is shown in Ypsilanti, Mich., Monday morning, Sept. 24, 2007.   (Associated Press)
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