GM faces barrage of strike threats from UAW locals

Ohio factory nixes deal, while union warns of walkout at another site.

Sharon Terlep / The Detroit News

Workers at a General Motors Corp. factory in Parma, Ohio, have rejected a tentative contract reached earlier this month under the threat of a strike by the United Auto Workers.

On Monday, another UAW local, representing a GM stamping plant in Mansfield, Ohio, issued a strike threat against the carmaker.

The Parma factory had been the only one among eight UAW locals that have threatened a strike against GM in recent weeks to reach a tentative deal with the company. Now, that plant is back in play as GM faces a barrage of threats — and one active strike at the company’s Delta Township plant near Lansing — that imperil its most important vehicles.

In a vote held Friday, 61 percent of Parma’s UAW workers rejected the deal reached on April 9, according to UAW Local 1005’s Web site. Fewer than 800 of about 1,600 hourly employees voted. The UAW could either hold a revote or attempt to renegotiate with the company.

Union officials couldn’t be reached for comment Monday evening.

Meanwhile, negotiations continued Monday between GM and its union locals, including at the Delta Township plant, where workers have been on strike since Thursday, GM Spokesman Dan Flores said.

In a letter posted online to members of UAW Local 602, which represents the Delta plant, local union leaders listed key issues in the dispute. Among them: grievances, work rules and having nonunion labor working on the plant floor. The factory makes GM’s popular crossover SUVs, including the GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave. GM’s supply for those vehicles already is below the industry standard 60-day supply.

"We have gone through several months of negotiations with disappointing progress occurring over the last few months," the notice said.

Strike deadlines set by two UAW locals, representing a Grand Rapids stamping plant and the Kansas City, Kan., plant where GM makes the hot-selling Chevrolet Malibu, expire as early as today, depending on whether the UAW opts to include the weekend as part of the five-day notice.

UAW Local 549, representing the Mansfield stamping plant, said workers may strike by Monday if a plant level contract isn’t reached. The factory employs about 1,500 hourly workers, according to a GM Web site.

Workers stayed on the job at a Warren transmission plant, where the UAW and GM continued to negotiate through a strike deadline last week.

The UAW will give GM 12 hours notice before calling any strike.

Locals in Flint and Arlington, Texas, also threatened strikes. The Flint local has since called off the threat. The Arlington plant has since been idled due to the parts shortage created by the nearly two-month-old strike at American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc.

That stoppage has forced GM to halt or slow production at more than two dozen plants, affecting half of its North American hourly work force.

On Monday, two more GM plants were affected by the American Axle strike.

GM idled an Oshawa, Ont., factory that builds the Chevrolet Impala and cut a shift at a Willow Run plant that makes transmissions for the Buick Lucerne, Cadillac DTS and full-size pickups.

The UAW and American Axle negotiators met Monday after a day off on Sunday. Neither side reported substantial progress.