General Motors CEO Dan Akerson: I'll work with union

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.freep.com/article/20100903/BUSINESS01/9030304/1322/GM-CEO-Akerson-Ill-work-with-union

He's optimistic for future, he writes

BY CHRISSIE THOMPSON
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

General Motors CEO Dan Akerson chose the UAW for the topic of his first companywide message, saying he believes in cooperating with the group.

Others have suggested the union could prove a challenge for the sacrifice-minded boss.

"Coming from a union family, I know on a very personal level the good things that unions can do," Akerson said Thursday in a note to employees in honor of Labor Day on Monday.

The CEO said he recently met with UAW President Bob King and Vice President Joe Ashton, who is the union's lead GM negotiator.

"We agreed that, while we will not always see eye to eye on everything, GM will succeed to the extent that management and labor work together," Akerson said in the note, obtained by the Free Press. A GM spokesman confirmed the note's authenticity on the condition of anonymity.

FULL story at link.