Auto Workers Ok Contract With Gm

Union members returned to work today at a truck plant after overwhelmingly ratifying a contract with General Motors Corp. and ending a six-day strike.

The agreement was ratified by 99 percent of the nearly 3,000 members of United Auto Workers Local 594 who voted Thursday night, the union said.

The 5,500 UAW workers at GM’s Pontiac East plant walked out March 31, demanding the automaker create jobs in the Pontiac area for 1,700 workers whose positions were eliminated when GM closed a nearby plant. The company had asked union approval to transfer the workers to other plants.

The Pontiac East plant builds one-third of the automaker’s fullsize pickup trucks, and the strike cost GM the production of about 4,500 of its highly profitable Chevrolet and MC C-K pickups, which already are in short supply.

The union got all its demands, said Local 594 Chairman Jay Campbell. But The Detroit News reported that the agreement left about 700 of the displaced workers without job prospects in their local’s area.

GM spokeswoman Sherrie Childers said the company was pleased. She declined to discuss contract specifics.