U.S. union plea: turn off lights in Tokyo, Seoul

By Michael Strong

WARREN, Michigan (Reuters) - A United Auto Workers official on Friday called on the Obama administration to push General Motors Corp toward a restructuring that would keep the lights on in American car factories "and turn them off in cities like Tokyo and Seoul."

"My hope is that the government is like the UAW: protectors of the people," Joe Peters said to applause at a town hall event hosted by a member of the Obama administration's autos task force.

In recent days, the UAW has stepped up its criticism of GM for a restructuring plan that would cut 21,000 more factory jobs in North America while increasing cars imported to the United States from GM factories offshore.

GM and UAW officials resumed negotiations this week. While UAW President Ron Gettelfinger has been silent, Peters and two other top UAW deputies have lashed out this week at GM's plan for job cuts.

"We at the UAW believe that if GM, Chrysler or any other corporation is going to receive government assistance to facilitate its restructuring, the vehicles they are selling in this market should be built in this country," said Peters, who heads up the union's biggest and most important region, around Detroit.

Ed Montgomery, a labor economist appointed by President Barack Obama to spearhead federal support for American cities hit hardest by the collapse of the autos market, listened to Peters and took notes during his presentation.

Peters called on Montgomery and the White House's autos task force to keep GM factories operating in cities around Michigan and pulling business away from Japanese and Korean automakers, a flash of hard-edged trade rhetoric that had been largely absent from the auto bailout debate.

"Let's keep the lights on in cities like Pontiac and Lake Orion and turn them off in cities like Tokyo and Seoul," Peters said.

UAW-GM TALKS CRUCIAL

GM has suggested that the US Treasury effectively nationalize the troubled automaker, taking a majority stake in exchange for writing off a share of the $27 billion in funding the government is expected to have to provide.

The deep and unprecedented aid for the U.S. auto industry by the Obama administration has the potential to complicate future talks with key partners, some analysts have said.

In announcing plans for Chrysler LLC's bankruptcy in a televised press conference, Obama urged American car shoppers to "buy an American car."

The remarks from Peters came on the same day that Toyota Motor Corp reported a quarterly net loss of almost $7.8 billion and detailed steps to slash spending.

The UAW's opposition to the GM turnaround plan -- the fourth and deepest round of cost-cuts the automaker has announced in the past nine months -- has the potential to complicate GM's efforts to win deals to reduce debt and avoid bankruptcy.

GM and the union have until the end of the month to agree on cost-cutting contract changes and plans for the automaker to pay for about $10 billion in retiree healthcare costs in stock rather than cash.