Detroit — As the ink dries on the new four-year contract General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers tentatively agreed to Wednesday, there are many mysteries on its historic pages.
GM and the UAW are tight-lipped on the details of the contract until the ratification votes expected to begin this weekend are complete, but they did confirm that the deal allows GM to move $51 billion in retiree health care costs into an independent trust administered by the UAW. The union also agreed to lower wages for some workers.
In exchange, the UAW won commitments from GM to invest in U.S. plants, bonuses and an agreement to hire thousands of temporary workers which will boost UAW membership, according to a person who was briefed on the contract.
The contract will be reviewed by local UAW presidents this week and will be subject to a vote of GM’s 74,000 rank-and-file members. Voting is expected to begin this weekend, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said.
The Lansing Delta Township and Lansing Grand River assembly plants are home to about 6,600 UAW members. UAW Local 602 President Douglas Rademacher said he doesn’t expect the agreement to face much opposition.
“I don’t think these two groups could have sat down for something this important and not have come up with something we can’t be able to pass,” Rademacher said. “I expect to see something Friday that the people are going to be satisfied with.”
UAW Local 602 represents GM workers at the Lansing Delta Township plant which includes about 3,600 union members, Rademacher said.
GM lost production of around 25,000 vehicles due to the strike, according to CSM Worldwide Inc. Analysts had suggested a short strike could actually improve GM’s outlook because it would cut back on inventory levels.
Criag Trudell contributed to this article.
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