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GM-UAW talks continue as strike enters second day

DETROIT - Negotiators for the United Auto Workers union and General Motors Corp have resumed bargaining on Tuesday while more than 73,000 factory workers participated in the second day of the first national strike against the automaker in more than 30 years, according to Reuters.

GM workers walked off the job on Monday after 10 weeks of contract talks seen as crucial to GM's survival as it restructures money-losing U.S. operations and tries to free itself from a health-care obligation of more than $50 billion.

A GM spokeswoman said the two sides began talking around mid-morning. Meantime, workers at a GM facility in Warren, Michigan, could be seen picketing early on Tuesday with signs reading "UAW on Strike."

Many analysts predicted that a protracted strike against the largest U.S. automaker was unlikely and the two sides could still settle on a deal on wages and benefits that delivers many of the sweeping concessions GM has sought.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 1:04 PM to GM , Unions | Permalink | Comments 0

In G.M. Strike, Both Sides See a Crossroads

The United Automobile Workers union wielded its most potent weapon against General Motors yesterday, sending 73,000 workers to picket lines in its first national strike at G.M. since 1970, according to the New York Times' Micheline Maynard.

Union officials said they were left no choice but to strike because General Motors was unwilling to accept the union’s demand that it protect workers’ jobs and benefits.

For General Motors, its unyielding stance reflects its decision to accept the short-term pain of a strike at 80 facilities in 30 states to achieve its goals: a lower cost structure and more flexible work force to better compete against surging Japanese automakers like Toyota and Honda.

“This really is a defining moment,” said James P. Womack, an expert on manufacturing and co-author of “The Machine That Changed the World,” which studied the plants of Japanese automakers in the United States. “G.M. has backed away from defining moments for generations. And now somebody there has finally said, ‘We have to do this because it’s a new era.’ ”

The length of the walkout may hinge on the answers to two crucial questions: How long can the U.A.W. afford to stay out? And how long can G.M. endure a strike? While an indefinite strike would pose risk to both sides, each has made a calculated decision that it has more to gain by standing tough.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:58 AM to GM , Unions , commentary | Permalink | Comments 0

Automakers go back to seating's future

Back-seat drivers may be as annoying as ever, but at least they won't be as cramped.
Some automakers are working to turn back seats into more pleasant accommodations for adult passengers, according to USA Today.

Among the latest to make an improvement is Honda (HMC), which lengthened its flagship Accord sedan from midsize to a full-size model, mainly to add more legroom in the back seat. The new Accord, which just went on sale, has another 1.4 inches of knee room in back.

In a change for what has traditionally been a family sedan, Honda says kids are no longer the primary back-seat riders for Accord.

The car's target customers now are empty-nest boomers and white-collar Gen Xers, many of whom don't have many kids. Instead, auto executives envision the back seat as a place to try to impress adult friends and business clients.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:55 AM to Design | Permalink | Comments 0

Strike: Wall Street's not too worried, yet

The strike might be on, but Wall Street doesn't believe that an agreement between GM and the UAW to create a new retiree health care fund is completely off, according to Detroit Free Press columnist Susan Tompor.

GM stock held its own. GM closed at $34.74 Monday, down 20 cents a share. Ford Motor Co. closed at $8.48 a share, up 25 cents a share. GM has requested that the UAW take control of a new retiree health care fund to pay out future liabilities estimated at $50 billion in exchange for a onetime payment into the fund from the automaker.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:48 AM to GM , Unions , commentary | Permalink | Comments 0

A weakened union plays its only trump card

Let's take UAW President Ron Gettelfinger at his word when he says, as he did Monday after striking General Motors Corp., "There's not one person on this stage ... that wanted to see these negotiations end in a strike. Who wins in a strike?"

Gettelfinger, of course, blamed GM for being unreasonable.

But wasn't he also conceding, in a way, that the UAW is in a predicament? It's an institution with declining influence, fewer and fewer friends and one big weapon it can ill afford to use without destroying itself in the process, according to Detroit Free Press columnist Tom Walsh.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:45 AM to GM , Unions , commentary | Permalink | Comments 0

How long can the strike last?

The strike many believed never would happen shut down General Motors plants nationwide Monday, casting uncertainty on whether the U.S. auto industry can get the kind of revolutionary changes it says it needs to compete, according to the Detroit Free Press.

An end to the first nationwide UAW strike in 31 years will depend on resolving the key union issues of wages and benefits, job security and investment in U.S. facilities and vehicles, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger indicated at a news conference Monday.

He repeatedly said that the strike was not related to talks over a landmark retiree health care trust on which the two parties are believed to have agreed to a general framework.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:42 AM to GM , Unions , commentary | Permalink | Comments 0

Long Strike Could Cost GM Billions

DETROIT -- If the United Auto Workers strike against General Motors Corp. lasts longer than a week or two, it could cost GM billions of dollars and stop the momentum the company was building with some of its new models, according to several industry analysts, according to the Associated Press.

A strike of two weeks or less would not hurt GM's cash position and would actually improve its inventory situation, Lehman Brothers analyst Brian Johnson said Monday in a note to investors. But a longer strike would be harmful, causing GM to burn up $8.1 billion in the first month and $7.2 billion in the second month, assuming the company can't produce vehicles in Mexico or Canada, Johnson wrote.

Initially, the strike wouldn't have much impact on consumers because GM has so much inventory, the analysts say. The company had just under 950,000 vehicles in stock at the end of August, about 35,000 less than at the same time last year.

But Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis for J.D. Power and Associates, said even a short strike could hurt GM because its new crossover vehicles - the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook - are selling well and in short supply.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:40 AM to GM , Unions , commentary | Permalink | Comments 0