GM's Indy plant caught in UAW pay battle

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.detnews.com/article/20100928/AUTO01/9280369/GM-s-Indy-plant-caught-in-UAW-pay-battle

Many members vote no on wage cut plan, risk plant closure
Louis Aguilar / The Detroit News

Indianapolis -- A General Motors Co. stamping plant here has become a battleground pitting rank-and-file UAW members against top union officials over whether autoworkers should accept pay cuts to save jobs and keep factories open.

JD Norman Industries Inc. of Addison, Ill., wants to buy and continue operating the Indianapolis Metal Center, which is to close in October 2011 as a result of GM's 2009 bankruptcy. But plant workers would have to accept a 50 percent pay cut to $15.50 an hour, from $29, in a deal negotiated by regional and national leaders of the United Auto Workers.

Everyone from Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels to UAW officials in Detroit urged the approximately 650 workers at the plant to approve the agreement.

But many of the employees represented by UAW Local 23 -- who for months panned the deal and last Thursday sported "No" buttons as they entered the union hall to cast ballots in a special mail-in vote -- would prefer to close the plant. That would allow them to keep their option to transfer to another GM factory when jobs are available and maintain their current pay level.

Local 23 dissidents said Monday that they had enough votes to defeat the labor pact; official results are expected to be announced as early as today.

The drama in Indianapolis highlights how UAW pay rules and politics could complicate the efforts of Liquidation Motors Co. -- the "old" GM -- to sell 16 factories and other assets the "new" GM left behind in bankruptcy.

FULL story and photo at link.