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GM, UAW resume talks, said to be close to health care agreement
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 22 - 09 - 2007


Negotiators for General Motors Corp. and
the United Auto Workers returned to the bargaining table
Saturday morning after reportedly nearing an agreement on a
historic deal that would transfer the automaker's retiree
health care costs to a trust managed by the union, according to AP.
GM, which has $51 billion (¤36.3 billion) in unfunded
retiree health care costs on its books and 540,000 UAW
retirees and spouses, badly wants to pay the union to form
a trust and take on much of the burden. The UAW is seeking
guarantees that new vehicles will be built in U.S. plants
in exchange.
Bargainers have not settled on a final number for how much
GM would put into the trust, but two people briefed on the
talks said they are close to agreement. Both requested
anonymity because the talks are private.
The structure of the trust and how the company would make
its contributions is incredibly complex, said one of the
people.
«It is not a done deal yet,» the person said, but enough
progress has been made to enable negotiators to turn to
bargaining on other issues.
Bargaining now is focused on other economic issues that
hinge on the trust, including pensions, wages, profit
sharing, and who manufactures company parts, the person
said.
Despite optimism, a deal is believed to be at least a few
days away, the person said Saturday.
GM sees the trust, called a Voluntary Employees
Beneficiary Association, or VEBA, as the least painful way
to cut into what the U.S. auto companies say is about a $25
(¤17.80)-per-hour labor cost gap between them and their
Japanese competitors.
The talks, which have extended more than a week beyond the
original deadline, restarted Saturday morning, GM spokesman
Tom Wickham said. They were expected to continue all
weekend. Wickham would not comment on developments, and
messages were left for UAW spokesman Roger Kerson.
UAW President Ron Gettelfinger told members Friday he was
trying to speed up negotiations with General Motors and
wanted to reach a contract agreement without a strike.


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