UAW bargains to save jobs at GM

Union leaders are bargaining for save jobs in Lordstown and other car plants in exchange accepting General Motors’s demands for concessions, industry analysts say.

“The United Auto Workers has to get something back,” said Dennis Virag, president of the Automotive Consulting Group in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The issue is critical at GM plants in Lordstown, Spring Hill., Tenn., and Kansas City, Kan., because they are scheduled to be losing vehicles, the Automotive News said Friday.

Production of the Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 are scheduled in Lordstown only through June 2009.

Virag said that schedule was made with an eye on negotiations. GM didn’t want to make long-term commitments without knowing its cost structure in those years, he said.

GM’s reaction to the UAW’s demands for job commitments is unclear because it isn’t commenting on the negotiations.

For more on this story, see The Vindicator or www.vindy.com Saturday.