GM-UAW talks intensify, but no significant progress reported yet

Negotiations to end the crippling strikes against General Motors Corp. have intensified, but a top United Auto Workers leader says it's too early to declare that progress has been made.

After nearly three weeks of daily talks that have yielded only acrimony from both sides, any sign that the negotiations have become more serious is reason for optimism. But Richard Shoemaker, the UAW vice president in charge of GM relations, was wary about giving any false hope.

"If you're asking me if we had any discussions with them today that would suggest they're prepared to settle all of the issues, the answer is no, we haven't had any discussions like that," Shoemaker said at the union's constitutional convention in Las Vegas late Tuesday.

But Shoemaker said talks at the Flint Metal Center, the stamping plant in Flint, Mich., where workers went on strike June 5, focused on "production standards" and the 200 jobs that the union says GM wants to cut.

"It's too early to say that there was any progress made," Shoemaker said. "There was discussion about it."

The dispute at the stamping plant is considered the toughest to settle. Both sides have dug deep into their respective positions. GM wants major changes made in what it considers overly restrictive work rules, but the union says that would involve reopening the local contract that was just negotiated last year.

The UAW also has been on strike at the Delphi Flint East parts plant since June 11. Shoemaker said there has been "no meaningful progress" in talks there.

GM spokeswoman Mary Irby said negotiations would resume today, but she declined to comment on the discussions.

Shoemaker said there would be no negotiation over the so-called "pegged rates" at the stamping plant, a key issue to GM. Pegged rates allow workers to get paid for a full day after less than eight hours work if they reach a production quota. GM says they are make the plant's engine-cradle operations a money-loser.

The UAW says GM should have sought to change the rates during local contract talks last year, but didn't.

"They can live with that until the next round of negotiations," Shoemaker said. "Then if they want to change it, they have the opportunity. Whether they can or not remains to be seen."

UAW President Stephen Yokich, who was scheduled to be re-elected to a second term today, said GM still had not shown that it was ready to negotiate a comprehensive settlement.

"They went out and did their spin doctor stuff, that they're ready to meet 24 hours around the clock and all that nonsense," Yokich said. "It hasn't happened, they're not ready."

The strikes by about 9,200 workers have led to the layoffs of about 142,600 other GM workers at 26 assembly plants and about 100 parts plants across North America. The latest plants affected were in Bowling Green, Ky., where the Chevrolet Corvette is made, and a truck chassis plant in Detroit.

At the convention Tuesday, the president of the Canadian Auto Workers said his union would challenge GM if necessary to help the striking workers.

Buzz Hargrove said CAW members at GM's Oshawa, Ontario, truck plant would refuse to handle strike-related parts in assembling GM's new pickup.

The pickup is to be made with hoods, doors and other body parts made from dies that GM removed from the Flint Metal Center during Memorial Day weekend in anticipation of labor problems. The move angered the UAW and contributed to its decision to strike.

The parts were taken to GM's stamping plant near Mansfield, Ohio. They are to be used to make parts for the automaker's redesigned full-size pickup. GM's big pickup is its best-selling vehicle.

Canadian law makes it illegal for the CAW to strike except during national contract negotiations. The CAW and UAW national contract talks begin in summer 1999.

Hargrove implied the law won't stop the CAW at Oshawa. He recalled what happened in 1996 when GM tried to remove tools and dies from a metal-fabrication plant in Canada.

"We took over the plant and we stopped it. And the General Motors Corporation said it's an illegal act that we're performing and they threatened to sue me personally and our union," he said. "I told 'em to get in line."

Production of the 1999 pickups began earlier this month, but in initially low numbers as workers gear up for full production. GM stocked up some parts there to ensure the launch of the new model proceeded smoothly. The CAW has said GM has not tried to use stampings from the Flint dies yet and may not for several more weeks.

In fact, a lack of parts from Delphi Flint East could cause the Oshawa plant to halt production before any showdown over the dies can occur, said a company source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

GM said on June 10 that it would return the dies to Flint after the strikes are over. Spokesman Gerry Holmes said Tuesday that the company would not comment on Hargrove's remarks.

UAW delegates, meanwhile, voted Tuesday to extend the terms of its national office holders to four years from three. That means Yokich will serve until 2002.

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