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.
