Strike Ends as GM and UAW Reach Tentative Agreement

General Motors and the United Auto Workers reached an early morning agreement to end the two day strike. The agreement will need to be ratified in the coming days by UAW membership, but it’s expected to pass. Workers are expected back as early as today which will be good news to new Corvette buyers with orders in the system, as well as those expecting to make the journey to Bowling Green to pick up their new car at the National Corvette Museum. CorvetteConti.com and CorvetteBlog.com, both supported and sponsored by Chevrolet stores, offered up the following communications from various GM brass:

GM Dealers,
Subject: Update on UAW Negotiations Earlier today, General Motors and the UAW have reached a tentative agreement on a new national labor contract, covering approximately 74,000 represented employees. The agreement, subject to member ratification, paves the way for GM to significantly improve its manufacturing competitiveness, providing the basis for maintaining and strengthening its core manufacturing base in the United States. The tentative agreement includes a memorandum of understanding to establish an independent retiree health care trust, as well as other changes to the national agreement. Following ratification, implementation of the memorandum of understanding is subject to approval by the courts, and satisfactory review of accounting treatment with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Rick Wagoner sent a message indicating how this agreement will help us close the fundamental competitive gaps that exist in our business. The projected competitive improvements in this agreement will allow us to maintain a strong manufacturing presence in the United States along with significant future investments. The GM negotiating team members and support staff and the UAW bargaining team are to be commended for their dedicated work on this new agreement. I want to personally thank each of you for your continued focus on our customers and for promoting our full lineup of great cars and trucks, including your efforts on the current retail event, which runs through October 1. Importantly, to address any concerns regarding delivery of parts to your dealerships an additional communications from Doug Herberger, Vice President — Service and Parts Operations, will be forwarded to you later today via GM Messenger on DealerWorld. Mark LaNeve
Vice President
Vehicles Sales, Service & Marketing ——————– GM Leaders, General Motors and the UAW have reached a tentative agreement on a new national labor contract, covering approximately 74,000 represented employees. The agreement, subject to member ratification, paves the way for GM to significantly improve its manufacturing competitiveness, providing the basis for maintaining and strengthening its core manufacturing base in the United States. The tentative agreement includes a memorandum of understanding to establish an independent retiree health care trust, as well as other changes to the national agreement. Following ratification, implementation of the memorandum of understanding is subject to approval by the courts, and satisfactory review of accounting treatment with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This was a very difficult and complex set of negotiations for GM and the UAW. I want to thank all the GM negotiating team members and support staff for their dedicated work on this new agreement. I also want to commend the UAW bargaining team for their professionalism in these negotiations. The next step involves UAW leaders traveling to the plants to explain the new contract and seek ratification. We will communicate the final outcome. Thanks for your support. Regards,
Diana Tremblay
GMNA Vice President – Labor Relations

Perhaps the best message of all is no message. The Bowling Green Assembly Plant has removed the notice informing the suspension of the factory tour and it appears that all will return to normal in a very quick fashion.
Source:
CorvetteConti.com
CorvetteBlog.com Related:
Corvette Assembly Plant UAW Strike Video Technorati Tags:
Corvette | GM | Bowling Green | UAW | Strike