GM May Close 2 More Plants Under Deal

[Omaha Steve]

http://money.excite.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt_top.jsp?news_id=ap-d8s0adho0&

Monday October 1, 3:48 AM EDT

DETROIT (AP) — The tentative contract between General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers would allow GM to close a plant each in Michigan and Indiana and possibly shut down several other facilities, according to a detailed copy of the agreement.

The moves are the downside of job security pledges that the UAW won in the negotiations, including commitments for new products at 16 plants. About 74,000 hourly GM workers will vote on the pact starting this week, with a final tally to be done by Oct. 10.

Gregg Shotwell, a GM worker and frequent critic of the UAW, posted most of the contract details on the Internet. He said he received the agreement from a local union official who attended a Friday meeting in Detroit. He would not identify the official, but the accuracy of its contents was confirmed for The Associated Press by a union leader who requested anonymity because members have not yet voted on the pact.

The agreement would let GM sell or close a stamping plant in Indianapolis and close an engine plant in Livonia, in suburban Detroit. According to the detailed document, called the "white book," work at the Indianapolis stamping operation will continue or be reallocated to another GM plant "until such time as the plant can be sold to an outside buyer."

GM will study keeping the plant, but if it is not sold or kept, it will be closed "no sooner than December 2011," the document said. It employs about 850 workers, according to a GM Web site.

The Livonia plant, which now employs about 300, would remain open through its current product life cycle, which ends in 2010.

FULL story at link.

[LiberalFighter]

1. What does Gregg Shotwell suggest the UAW do?

Force GM to keep all plants open regardless of the lack of sales?

GM can't sell vehicles if they don't have buyers for them when they buy foreign vehicles.