Area Development News Desk (12/03/2008)
Leaders of the United Auto Workers (UAW) say their union is willing to
renegotiate its contracts with General Motors (GM), Ford Motor Company,
and Chrysler LLC. At a news conference during a meeting of union
officials today, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said that the union
will also modify the jobs bank, in which laid-off workers are paid up
to 95 percent of their salaries while not working. "We're going to sit
down and work out the mechanics," says Gettlefinger. "We're a little
unclear on some of the issues." The Detroit Free Press reports
that union members in attendance at the meeting expressed grudging
support for potential changes to their contracts in order to convince
Congress to provide the companies' requested bailout funding, rather
than see the companies fail. "We'll do our part as always," says Mike
Walsh, a union local leader, quoted in the Free Press. "We will
bring it to our membership, and if the answer is yes, it is yes. And if
the answer is no, it is no." The union says there will be meetings held
throughout the week to fine-tune a package of possible concessions.

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