DETROIT, Sept. 17 — General Motors workers at plants around the United States began returning to their jobs this morning, as bargainers for the United Automobile Workers union and the company took a break from negotiations that appeared close to running aground on Sunday night.þþAuto plants opened as scheduled, although the U.A.W.’s contracts with G.M. expired two days ago. Bargainers worked until about 3 a.m. ET, in the fourth straight marathon session since the union named G.M. as its strike target on Thursday.þþUnion and company officials were expected back at G.M. later in the morning, a G.M. spokesman said early today. He declined to say whether progress was being made.þþLate Sunday, it appeared that negotiations between the two sides were in danger of collapse, with union leaders considering the possibility of recessing the negotiations and choosing another automaker, perhaps the Ford Motor Company, in an effort to reach a new contract.þþThe two sides were said to be deadlocked over guarantees sought by the union’s president, Ron Gettelfinger, for workers who will remain at G.M. once it completes an extensive restructuring next year, people with knowledge of the negotiations said.þþThey insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the private negotiations.þþ“The talks are going bad,” said one person who had been briefed on the talks.þþBut the tone and direction of bargaining can change quickly, especially when talks are as complicated as these have proved to be.þþThe decision by G.M. and the U.A.W. to resume talks later today indicated that the two sides had decided not to abandon the discussions yet.þþThe primary issue, believed to have been settled in principle, is the creation of a health care trust that would assume the responsibility for $55 billion in benefits for employees, retirees and their families.þþDespite the lack of a deal, G.M.’s contract was being extended on an hour-by hour basis. A number of local unions posted notices last night on their Web sites, asking workers to report for duty Monday as planned.þþIf the union tries its chances at Ford, it would be a repeat of negotiations in 1982. At the time, the union was angered by contract terms proposed by G.M., which like Ford was suffering from an economic downturn. þþThe union’s then-president, Douglas A. Fraser, recessed the negotiations at G.M. and reached a historic agreement at Ford that traded concessions for involvement in company decisions. It later reached a similar deal at G.M.þþNegotiations with Ford would be a homecoming for Mr. Gettelfinger, who began his career in 1964 at Ford’s plant in Louisville, Ky. He headed the union’s Ford division before becoming U.A.W president in 2002, and has good relations with its labor officials. þþFord is in worse financial shape than G.M., however. It lost $12.6 billion in 2006, and continues to lose money in North America, where it does not expect to be profitable until 2009. And its chief executive, Alan R. Mulally, is said to want to reach an agreement that would give Ford more flexibility than the current U.A.W. contract, which is the size of the Manhattan phone book.þþThe G.M. talks appeared in danger of breaking down over several matters. One is said to involve Mr. Gettelfiger’s demand that G.M. stop sending work outside the United States. Mr. Gettelfinger also was pushing for G.M. to put more cash in the health care trust, called a voluntary employee benefit association, or VEBA. þþThe trust, to be run by the union, would assume a liability that G.M. estimates at $55 billion. G.M., Ford and Chrysler have pushed hard in contract negotiations for the union to take charge of its medical benefits, saying they are a major factor limiting their ability to compete with Japanese auto companies.þþAll told, the three companies have health care liabilities totaling nearly $100 billion.þþ
Source: NY Times
