UAW girds workers for possible strike against GM
DETROIT (Reuters) - Local leaders of the United Auto Workers have begun preparing more than 73,000 workers at General Motors Corp. GM.N for the prospect of the first strike against the No. 1 U.S. automaker in nine years.
Union locals have doled out gate assignments, picketing plans and assembly points. They have also reminded their UAW members that they must register for benefits, sign up for picket duty and show up, if they want strike assistance pay from the union.
UAW-represented GM workers on average are older than those at U.S. rivals Ford Motor Co (F.N) and Chrysler LLC, even after recent buyouts offered to employees.
The last major strike against GM was in 1998. The costly 59-day walkout at two parts plants in Flint, Michigan, shut down the automaker's production.
UAW Local 599 in Flint, which represents GM workers at a nearby plant making V-6 engines and powertrain components, set up a registration for its members Tuesday and Wednesday at its headquarters to qualify for strike assistance.
The UAW, in a surprise move, picked GM as its target for negotiating the U.S. auto industry master contract with GM, Ford and Chrysler that expires at 11:59 p.m. Friday. The union has reached extensions with Ford and Chrysler.
"We would like as many people as possible to show up at Local 599 on Friday night ... at 10 p.m. in case we do go on strike," the local said in a note to members on Thursday. "We will need people to man the gates."
Analysts have widely expected the talks to continue past Friday night, with the UAW members continuing to work under the current contract terms.
Local 599 President Bill Jordan said the 1,300 members in Flint would be ready for a strike, should it come to that. He said he did not read anything into the selection of GM as a target for the contract talks.
"We will wait for the call on that and do what (top UAW officials) ask us to do," Jordan said on Friday.
At a 24-hour operation like the Local 599 in Flint, workers must be prepared to walk out in an orderly fashion on a moment's notice, union officials said.
Local 160 in Warren, Michigan, which represents workers at a GM tech center, has assigned members to specific gates and times in the event of a strike.
Talks between the UAW and the Detroit-based automakers have been conducted in extreme privacy the past several weeks, but the one key issue that has surfaced has been possible creation of trusts to address retiree health costs, and how to pay for them.
Such trusts could put a defined limit on the billions of dollars in health care liabilities the U.S. automakers now have and the potential increases in costs.
(Additional reporting by Poornima Gupta)
