GM reaches tentative deal in Kansas City

Sharon Terlep / The Detroit News

General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers have struck a tentative deal that could end the two-week strike at a Kansas City, Kan., factory that builds the automaker’s critical Chevrolet Malibu sedan.

GM and the union have been haggling over a plant-level labor contract covering about 2,700 workers at GM’s Fairfax Assembly plant. A tentative contract was reached late Tuesday evening, GM Spokesman Dan Flores said.

Workers at the factory still must approve the deal.

"We’re certainly pleased and hope that the membership ratifies the deal," Flores said.

Details of the tentative agreement were not released, but an online posting on UAW Local 31’s Web site said the strike was over job security and seniority issues.

Local 31 President Jeff Manning said workers will hear information about the deal today and vote today. When they return to work depends on the outcome, but he said the local leadership is recommending approval.

"We believe this will work," he said of the deal. "It’s a great relief. All our members are professional auto workers and they would like to go back to work. That’s what they want to do."

The strike, which started May 5, was a worst-case scenario for the automaker, which for months had been scrambling to meet demand for the well-received Chevy four-door.

The car has been a bright spot for GM, which has seen sales of its truck-heavy lineup sink as more consumers turn toward fuel-efficient vehicles.

Sales of the Malibu are up 32 percent through April, while GM’s overall U.S. sales have fallen 12 percent.

The Fairfax plant also builds the Saturn Aura sedan. GM builds the Malibu at its Orion factory as well as in Kansas City.

With a resolution in Kansas City, GM has extinguished the last in a series of labor threats looming over its North American operations.

Workers at a Lansing-area Delta Township plant that had been on strike for a month ratified a new labor deal last week and were back at work on Monday.

Also last week, GM and the Canadian Auto Workers union reached a new three-year labor contract covering GM’s 13,000 Canadian hourly workers.

And, over the weekend, the UAW struck a deal with auto parts maker American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. that had partially or fully idled production at about 30 GM factories.. Workers are voting this week on that deal, which could end that 12-week strike. GM is American Axle’s largest customer and relies heavily on the supplier for its truck and SUV parts.

GM has been working to get in place plant-level labor deals with 77 UAW locals across the country in the wake of last year’s national contract with the union.