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Report: GM could get labor pay savings from UAW deal |
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NEW YORK (Reuters) -- General Motors would be able to buy out as many as 24,000 UAW workers and replace them with lower-paid hires under a tentative contract agreement, the Wall Street Journal reported today.Such a potential buyout stems from a move by the union to expand the definition of non-production job classifications, the report said, citing management and union officials briefed on the pact.GM will be able to hire at a much lower pay package janitors, landscape workers and material handlers, the report said.It will also be allowed to define some entry-level production work and skilled-trade positions as a "noncore position," whereby they get paid about half or less of the $70-to-$75 an hour wage-and-benefit package traditionally given UAW members, the report said.Those workers would have the opportunity later to transfer to the higher-paying production jobs, the report said.GM has about 15,000 to 20,000 members eligible for retirement, and it may be able to offer buyout packages to take advantage of the second-tier agreement, the report said.The UAW has asked its local unit leaders to gather in Detroit today to review the details of the tentative contract, which is likely to be put to vote as early as this weekend.The Journal also reported today more details on the proposed GM-UAW voluntary employee beneficiary trust, or VEBA, that will cover the health care costs of 432,000 GM retirees.GM will finance the estimated $35 billion contribution mostly with cash, but also with GM stock, the newspaper reported. GM also has agreed to kick in another $1.5 billion to $2 billion if health care inflation exceeds projections, two people briefed on the talks told the Journal.GM was not immediately available for comment. A UAW spokesman declined to comment.
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