UAW to vote on benefit reductions

Local General Motors workers are being asked to approve contract changes that would strip away cost-of-living increases, performance bonuses and payments for unused vacations, as well as reduce retiree health benefits.

GM and the United Auto Workers agreed to revise a current labor agreement last week, and information about the changes is being released to workers today. Lordstown workers will vote on the changes Thursday.

A UAW summary says current workers will see no reductions in base pay, health care or pensions. The cost-of-living adjustments and performance bonuses are being suspended, however, to offset health care costs.

Also included are buyout and early retirement incentives to encourage workers to leave their jobs.

Retirees would see some changes, but the UAW said pensions are not affected. Retirees would lose vision and dental coverage, and those who left after October 1979 also will lose the $76 a month that the company paid for Medicare Part B insurance.

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