GM, UAW reach tentative deal at Ohio factory

Sharon Terlep / The Detroit News

General Motors Corp. has struck a tentative agreement with one of five United Auto Workers union locals that had threatened a strike against the automaker.

GM Spokesman Dan Flores said today that GM and UAW Local 1005 in Parma, Ohio, have a deal pending ratification by the local’s members.

A date for a ratification vote has not yet been set. The union could not immediately be reached for comment.

The automaker is still negotiating with four locals that issued strike warnings last week in Flint, Warren, Lansing and Arlington, Texas.

The Parma factory employs about 1,600 hourly workers. It’s an important factory for GM in part because if provides components for the fast-selling Cobalt small car that’s built in Lordstown, Ohio.

Local 1005 President Tito Boneta said on Tuesday a key issue in the plant-level bargaining was that the company wanted to significantly broaden the job descriptions of skilled trade workers. The workers, who receive special training for narrowly defined tasks, typically have more seniority and higher hourly pay than their peers on the line.

The UAW strike warnings issued last week gave GM five days to make progress in local talks. Without progress in that time, the warnings said, the locals would issue official strike notices telling GM there will be a walkout within five days if there’s not a deal.

Such tactics are common during contract times. But stakes are especially high this year, with GM struggling mightily amid a weak economy, an anemic U.S. auto market and dealing with the American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. strike, which has slowed or halted production at 30 GM factories.