Union heads to check out tentative agreement Wednesday in Detroit

Staff/wire report

LORDSTOWN

United Auto Workers leaders who represent thousands of General Motors employees are ready to see what the UAW-GM tentative agreement has to offer.

Local 1112 President Glenn Johnson and Local 1714 President Robert Morales, who represent GM Lordstown workers, will meet with other UAW leaders Wednesday in Detroit to vote on the tentative agreement. If they approve it, GM’s U.S. hourly workers, including the 4,500 at the Lordstown assembly plant where the best-selling Chevrolet Cruze is built, will vote on it.

“You always hope to come to an agreement without a strike,” said Johnson, who represents 2,800 to 3,000 workers at the Lordstown plant. “We would be remiss if we didn’t at least prepare.”

Both leaders for Local 1112 and Local 1714 were prepared but hopeful the strike would be averted.

“We were ready to go out,” said Morales, who represents about 1,400 members in the fabrication plant at GM Lordstown. “We had total faith in our bargaining team.”

Specific details of the tentative agreement on a new four-year contract haven’t been released. Job security, wages including the elimination of a two-tier wage system, and benefits are all of primary concern for employees in Lordstown.

The tentative agreement was reached at 11:43 p.m. Sunday, 16 minutes before the deadline the UAW had set to either reach an agreement or call a strike at GM’s U.S. plants.

The agreement covers 52,600 U.S. autoworkers at 63 GM facilities in the U.S.

UAW President Dennis Williams said the proposed deal will provide “long-term, significant wage gains and job-security benefits now and in the future.” The union also hinted that this agreement – like a contract passed last week by Fiat Chrysler workers – gradually will eliminate a much-despised two-tier wage system in the plants.

GM said in a statement that the agreement benefits employees but still provides flexibility to the company. The company said it would not comment further until the agreement is ratified.

The union told GM on Saturday that it would terminate its contract just before midnight Sunday. The UAW made a similar strike threat in discussions with Fiat Chrysler, but negotiators also were able to avoid a walkout then.

On Thursday, union members at Fiat Chrysler voted to approve a four-year contract that includes pay raises and phases out the two-tier wage system over eight years.

Williams indicated that the union wanted even better deals from GM and Ford Motor Co. because they are more profitable. The UAW hasn’t yet reached a tentative agreement with Ford.

GM reported last week that it earned $1.36 billion in the third quarter, including a record $3.3 billion pretax profit in North America on strong sales of trucks and SUVs. The company overcame $1.5 billion in costs from recalls over deadly ignition switches and beat Wall Street profit forecasts by a wide margin.

Executives said they believe they can negotiate a union deal that lets GM maintain 10 percent pretax profit margins in North America.

Contributor: Kalea Hall, staff writer.