GM, UAW Agree to Pact, Avert Strike at Transmission Plants

General Motors Corp. averted another strike by the United Auto Workers when it reached a tentative agreement Saturday on a local contract.

GM and the UAW agreed on the pact covering 5,320 workers at the Willow Run and Romulus transmission plants at 2:30 a.m. EDT, said Chuck Zurawski, president of Local 735.

The union had said its members would strike if no agreement was reached by 11:59 p.m. Friday, but both sides agreed to continue bargaining beyond that deadline.

There was no interruption in production at either plant after the strike deadline passed, Zurawski said. A ratification vote will be held in the next 10 days, he said.

The contract for workers at the transmission plants would be in effect for two years, Zurawski said. Neither he nor GM spokesman Chuck Licari would discuss the agreement in detail.

“We believe the agreement addresses the legitimate needs of our employees and at the same time allows us to improve our competitive position,” Licari said.

GM and the UAW took the same steps last weekend to avert a strike. An agreement covering 3,600 workers at GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck car assembly plant was reached in the early morning hours of Aug. 9, more than three hours past the strike deadline set by UAW Local 22.

Saturday’s agreement headed off potentially serious production problems for GM, which has endured six strikes this year, four by the UAW.

Willow Run supplies front- and rear-drive transmissions and related parts to every one of GM’s North American assembly plants except the Saturn plant in Tennessee. Romulus supplies rear-drive transmissions that also are made in Toledo, Ohio.

In nearly every strike against GM this year, the dispute has focused on the company’s attempts to cut staff through attrition as well as outsourcing, and alleged health and safety violations.