GM-UAW talks continue hour by hour early today

STAFF/WIRE REPORTS

Union leaders at General Motors’ Lordstown complex were waiting, yet ready to go on strike today if a walkout is called by negotiators in Detroit.

Negotiations between the United Auto Workers and General Motors Corp. continued hours past a midnight deadline on an hour-by-hour basis, a local union leader said early today as GM workers nationwide prepared for a possible strike.

Chris “Tiny” Sherwood, president of UAW Local 652 at a Cadillac plant in Lansing, Mich., said he received a call at about 1:15 a.m. from UAW leadership in Detroit telling him to give them another hour.

“They’ve got stuff coming across the table,” as bargaining continued, he said.

Workers at union halls waited into the early-morning hours, hoping for news out of Detroit. They readied picket signs in case a strike was called, but as the night wore on, some workers went home to rest.

Douglas Rademacher, president of UAW Local 602 at another Lansing-area plant, said he got his telephone call at 1:23 a.m. from UAW leadership telling him to expect another call in an hour.

“I’m waiting patiently. We’re in it for the long haul,” he said. “We’re planning for the worst, hoping for the best. We support the international union 100 percent.”

Union officials had expected a call from UAW leadership around 10 p.m. EDT Friday telling them whether they should strike or stay on the job. But that call didn’t come, and just after the midnight deadline, local union leaders were told to hang in there as bargaining continued.

GM spokeswoman Katie McBride said the talks had continued past 2 a.m.

In Lordstown, Glenn Johnson, vice president of United Auto Workers Local 1112 at the GM Lordstown complex, said he, too received a call about the extension early today.. About 100 people waited at the union hall for instructions after midnight.

“We’re ready, and we’re mobile,” Johnson said.

“We are already set,” said Jim Graham, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112. “We will do what the international tells us to do.”

The UAW chose GM as its lead company and possible strike target Thursday. Typically, the union negotiates a contract with the lead company and then presses the other two Detroit automakers to accept the same terms. Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC have extended their contracts indefinitely, although talks are continuing and either side could break off the contract extension with three days’ notice.

The UAW still could strike GM, or the two sides could continue negotiating and workers would be covered by the terms of the old four-year contract.