The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.61/No.15           April 14, 1997 
 
 
GM Strikers Win More Hiring  

BY FRANK FORRESTAL
CHICAGO - After a two-week strike against General Motors, members of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2209 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, approved a local agreement that says the auto giant will hire 276 additional workers, about half of the 500 jobs the union had demanded. The accord was approved by 85 percent of those who attended the March 27 ratification meeting.

During months of negotiations leading up to the strike in Fort Wayne, GM held to its demand of cutting 300 UAW jobs. Since the early 1990s GM has slashed 60,000 jobs. In the period ahead, the world's largest auto maker says it plans to reduce its workforce by another 70,000.

"We didn't see all the details of the agreement, but we're glad to see that the company says it will hire more workers," said Fred Hammen, one of the 2,700 UAW members at the plant, in a phone call interview. "But getting the company to follow through on its agreement will be a fight." Some new workers will be hired in April and the rest over the coming months. GM has a long track record of not following through on its agreements, which more and more workers are becoming aware of.

The previous local agreement expired in September. GM and the UAW signed a national agreement last December. The local agreement covers many issues not spelled out in the national pact, such as job classifications, workforce size, outsourcing, and health and safety issues.

At this point few details are available on how the backlog of grievances and health and safety issues, which were important issues in the strike, are to be resolved.

Just before GM and the union settled the strike, 3,500 members of UAW Local 1999 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, authorized a walkout with a strike deadline of April 4. Local 1999 members produce the Chevrolet Malibu and the Oldsmobile Cutlass. GM has spent millions of dollars to promote these cars and their inventory is low.

According to the Oakland Press, a Detroit regional daily, "UAW officials had warned last week the union was prepared to approve an additional local strike or strikes if there was no progress in the talks at Fort Wayne." GM officials were "disappointed" by the April 4 strike authorization, the newspaper noted.

Like the Fort Wayne workers, Local 1999 had sought strike authorization last year, but it was given the green light only recently. UAW president Stephen Yokich worked overtime last fall to prevent strikes from taking place while the union was campaigning to get President William Clinton re-elected.

Almost one year ago, the Wall Street Journal reported that UAW Local 1999 "has already voted to strike the auto maker if it can't resolve such issues as health and safety grievances, work rules and subcontracting. A strike at Oklahoma City or any of the launch sites wouldn't completely shut down the auto maker, but it would cost GM valuable production time and millions of dollars in lost sales."

Earlier this year, after the national contract was ratified, GM officials sang a more confident song. The turnaround in sales was right around the corner. According to the New York Times, GM officials said, "The company's market share will bounce back as labor peace returns and new models begin coming out of factories at full speed."

The return of "labor peace" is not on the agenda, though, as more fights are brewing. Among the locals without contracts are GM's truck plant in Pontiac, Michigan, and GM's parts plants in Anderson, Indiana. These parts plants are on the auto giant's notorious "troubled" list.

Don DePew, an assembly line worker at the Fort Wayne plant, said many of the people at UAW Local 598, which organizes the Pontiac plant, are "itching to go out on strike." During the Fort Wayne strike, members of Local 598 joined the picket lines in Indiana.

Frank Forrestal is a member of UAW Local 551 at Ford in Chicago.  
 
 
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