DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp.'s 68-year-old Baltimore assembly plant is the only major GM factory targeted for closing as part of the automaker's new tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers, union leaders told local presidents Sunday.þþThe local officers were in Detroit to hear highlights of the proposed four-year labor pacts announced Thursday with GM, the world's largest automaker, and major automotive supplier Delphi Corp.þþAccording to a UAW-produced document prepared for the officers and obtained by The Associated Press, GM has identified three facilities for shuttering: the Baltimore plant, which has about 1,100 UAW workers; a powertrain plant in Saginaw, Mich., with 378 employees; and the Argonaut Building, an aging office structure in Detroit.þþGM builds the Chevrolet Astro and GMC Safari vans in Baltimore. The plant's future was uncertain because GM had no work assigned to it beyond 2005 -- now the year it will close.þþDuring negotiations, Delphi, which was spun off from GM in 1999, proposed the consolidation of six facilities, the document says. The supplier proposed merging two plants in Flint; its Tuscaloosa, Ala., plant into an operation in Lockport, N.Y.; and an Olathe, Kan., facility into Fitzgerald, Ga.þþ``The UAW resisted this proposal and Delphi withdrew it,'' the UAW document says. ``Nevertheless, the company notified the union that it intends to raise the issue of potential consolidation of these facilities during the term of the 2003 agreement.''þþGM has 115,000 active UAW workers; Delphi has about 30,000.þþCompany representatives have declined to discuss details of the proposed pacts.þþThe details are among the first to emerge about which operations the Big Three automakers have targeted as part of four-year, tentative contracts they reached with the union last week.þþThe new deals provide $3,000 signing bonuses, a second-year bonus tied to a worker's rate of pay and wage increases of 2 percent and 3 percent, respectively, in the third and fourth years of the contracts.þþThe UAW predicts the average production worker will realize additional income of $17,400 over the life of the agreement.þþThat's not quite the per-worker boost of nearly $30,000 four years ago, but the state of the domestic industry has changed significantly.þþThe late 1990s were prosperous times for GM, Ford and Chrysler, with money rolling in on the sale of pricey sport utility vehicles and large pickup trucks. Ford, for example, made $7.2 billion in 1999. In 2000 and 2001, the world's second-largest automaker lost a combined $6.4 billion.þþGM and Chrysler also made billions in 1999, but profits have shrunk in recent years as Asian and European rivals have started building -- and selling -- more vehicles in North America, including big pickups and SUVs.þþGains by foreign automakers were never more evident than in August, when the Big Three's combined U.S. market share fell to its lowest level ever and Toyota outsold Chrysler in a month for the first time.þþSome analysts say the UAW and Big Three seemed to realize the time had come for the two sides to work collectively against the foreign invasion.þþThe manufacturers and their suppliers are under intense pressure to reduce overhead and improve productivity as Asian and European rivals continue to expand in North America.þþFord and Chrysler also plan to sell or close several plants as part of tentative agreements reached last week with the UAW. The goal is to reduce the glut of North American manufacturing capacity and better align supply and demand.þþThe 1999 pacts banned plant closings.þþThe UAW entered negotiations with GM wanting assurances that the automaker would continue choosing Delphi for new business as opposed to nonunion suppliers. GM is Delphi's biggest customer.þþAccording to the UAW document, GM agreed to award about $1 billion in new business to Delphi, though no timeframe was given. In exchange, the document says, ``the UAW and Delphi agreed to a series of actions aimed at making Delphi a more quality-minded, competitive and viable company for the long term.''þþThe proposed four-year contracts between the UAW and GM, Ford, Chrysler, Delphi and supplier Visteon Corp. still require ratification by rank-and-file members. That process is expected to take place in the next week. The deals cover more than 300,000 UAW workers and 500,000 retirees and spouses.þþ
Source: NY Times
