Impact of GM cutbacks on paychecks remains unclear

General Motors is widely expected to continue slashing jobs but less clear is whether union workers’ paychecks will be cut as well.

Negotiators from GM and the United Auto Workers are talking this week about how to meet federal authorities’ demand that union concessions be part of the automaker’s restructuring.

Don’t look for the UAW to agree to cut wages, said Sean McAlinden, vice president of research for the Center for Automotive Research in Michigan.

He predicted union leaders will agree to freeze pay until GM is able to pay back the federal loans that it is accepting from the federal government. He thinks the payback could take six to eight years but noted that union workers already have a pay freeze in place through 2011 under a contract signed in 2007.

For more information, see Tuesday’s Vindicator or www.vindy.com.