GM pact not expected Saturday, insider says

DETROIT (AP) — Negotiators for the United Auto Workers and General Motors Corp. have resumed contract talks, but significant issues remain and a deal wasn’t expected to be reached Saturday, according to a person briefed on the negotiations.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private, also confirmed that GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner is actively involved in the talks.

Despite the differences that remain, the two sides appeared to be making progress and at least temporarily avoiding a strike by GM’s 73,000 U.S. auto workers. Various union subcommittees — which deal with issues such as pensions, benefits and job security — have wrapped up negotiations, according to the person.

On Friday night, factories across the country were mobilized for a possible strike starting at midnight, when the UAW’s contract with GM expired.

But local union leaders said a call from UAW leadership telling them to walk off their jobs never came.

Instead, negotiators agreed to bargain hour by hour as the workers stood by and a midnight contract expiration deadline passed. By early Saturday, local leaders said they were told to go home and wait for updates from Detroit.

General Motors Lordstown workers faced the risky scenario of a possible strike Saturday amid separate efforts to get the company to commit to production of a new car model that would keep the northeast Ohio plant operating past 2009.

The workers were among those at various plants across the country awaiting word on contract negotiations between General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers.