SPRING HILL, Tenn. (AP) -- United Auto Workers employed by General Motors Corp.'s Saturn division overwhelmingly approved a new labor agreement Sunday that could eventually end the unique agreement the union has with the automaker.þþAs part of the agreement, workers will receive a $3,000 bonus before Christmas and agreed to negotiate a transition to the national pact with GM that would allow the company to lay off employees for the first time in its history.þþThe four-year deal was approved by a 2,953-317 margin.þþ``We are in a position that either we adapt or die,'' Mike Herron, chairman of UAW Local 1853 in Spring Hill, told The Tennessean newspaper.þþAs part of the deal, General Motors promised to invest $90 million in Saturn for capital projects to help boost faltering product lines. Also, Saturn workers will see an increase in base pay, retroactive to Sept. 15, in line with other UAW members.þþFour-year deals also were negotiated over the summer by the union and Detroit's Big Three automakers. Saturn workers in Tennessee and Michigan, which number about 6,000, are covered by a separate contract.þþKey provisions in the Big Three deal included a $3,000 signing bonus, a performance bonus in the second year of the contract, a 2 percent raise in the third year and a 3 percent raise in the fourth year.þþThe GM division and Saturn UAW members began negotiating in mid-November, and a tentative agreement was reached Friday. All but a few hundred of the covered workers are employed at Saturn's plant in Spring Hill.þþThe deal allows the union and General Motors to negotiate a transition next year toward the umbrella agreement. If the two sides cannot agree, the contract approved Sunday would remain in effect for four years.þþ
Source: NY Times
