The Detroit News: GM narrows competitive gap

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.chronicle-tribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070927/NEWS05/70927007

DETROIT - General Motors Corp. took a giant step toward narrowing the competitive gap with Japanese automakers by agreeing Wednesday to a historic, cost-cutting contract with the United Auto Workers.

The tentative deal on a new, four-year UAW pact heralds a new era for GM in its epic struggle to keep pace with surging Toyota Motor Corp. and other foreign rivals.

But the landmark agreement won't cement GM's long-awaited turnaround if the automaker can't win back consumers and stem a decades-long slide in its U.S. market share.

The deal struck Wednesday cuts as much as 80 percent out of the $25-an-hour gap in labor costs between Detroit's Big Three automakers and Japanese manufacturers, according to people close to GM.

"Two words were used in this announcement -- competitive and investment," said Harley Shaiken, a labor expert at the University of California, Berkeley. "That's the framework of this contract."

The agreement came in dramatic fashion at 3:05 a.m. after 11 days of marathon bargaining and a two-day national strike that sent 73,000 UAW members from the factory floor to the picket line.

FULL story at link.