GM, CAW still working on deal
General Motors of Canada and the Canadian Auto Workers union were still trying to negotiate a labour concession agreement yesterday as the union president expressed frustration at the company’s unwillingness to compromise.
"It’s not a matter of the CAW with overzealous proposals. It’s a matter of General Motors at this particular time being overzealous," CAW president Ken Lewenza said in a phone interview yesterday evening. "But we keep talking."
The two sides failed to reach an agreement by a government-imposed deadline of midnight Friday and continued talking through the night.
Lewenza said the federal and Ontario governments told the two sides yesterday they could wait a few more days as long as there was progress at the bargaining table.
"The minute we quit talking, then the whole process is in jeopardy and I’m not prepared to jeopardize … that," he said.
A deal has not yet been reached because the union believes the sacrifices being asked of GM membership are "much more significant" than those asked of Chrysler employees, he said.
"We’ve already made some productivity improvements that are over and above what we did at Chrysler," he said pay day loans. "There’s no question General Motors is getting more at this particular time than what we provided Chrysler."
Government officials were also working behind the scenes to help broker a deal, Lewenza said.
Both GM and Chrysler must present restructuring plans to the government if they want to receive billions in bailout money.
Chrysler reached a deal with union members last month that cut labour costs by $19 an hour through concessions.
But GM is in a worse financial position than Chrysler, due in part to a ballooning pension deficit.
At one point in the talks with GM yesterday evening, Lewenza said he thought a deal was within reach, but it slipped away and he couldn’t predict how much more bargaining was ahead.
Without a more stringent deal, Ottawa and the province have said they won’t give GM Canada the $6 billion in aid it has requested.
GM Canada currently employs 7,500 hourly workers in southern Ontario.
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