GM program gives laid-off nearly full pay
By Reuters | November 30, 2005
Dean Braid does not have a job, but the 49-year-old auto worker is not unemployed either.
The Michigan native, who once helped develop the V6 engine for General Motors Corp., was laid off after about 20 years on the job -- yet he still collects his full salary.
''I'd much rather be working, doing what I enjoyed doing," Braid said. ''But things could be worse, I suppose."
Braid is one of thousands of US autoworkers who, instead of working on engines or installing car parts, spend their time doing crossword puzzles, watching movies, or doing community service -- and keep getting paid by GM's jobs bank program.
The jobs bank was established in 1984, during contract talks between the United Auto Workers Union and the Big Three -- General Motors, Ford Motor Co., and Chrysler Corp. The program guarantees pay and benefits to union members whose jobs were eliminated due to technological progress or plant restructurings.
Some analysts estimate GM has about 5,000 employees in its jobs bank, but the auto giant does not disclose figures. However, according to a four-year labor contract GM signed with the UAW in 2003, the automaker agreed to contribute up to $2.107 billion over four years.
Rival Ford Motor Co., which was also responsible for Visteon Corp.'s union employees, agreed to contribute $944 million in its contract, drawn up the same year.
In most cases, GM workers end up in the jobs bank after 48 weeks in ''layoff status" -- which entitles them to government unemployment benefits and a supplemental payout from the automaker that brings the total payment to 95 percent of their take-home pay.
The workers then move into the jobs bank, which entitles them to their full gross pay. In some cases, workers go directly into the program and in all cases, the workers can stay in the jobs bank until they are eligible to retire or be placed in another job.
Braid used to work at the Buick City complex in Flint, Mich. -- once a manufacturing complex more than a mile long, now reduced to mostly empty parking lots. Baird lost his job in 1999 when GM ended Buick production in Flint.
When Braid first joined the jobs bank program, he was required to spend 40 hours a week at the plant, but without work. Others like him go to the plant and sit around, read the paper, solve puzzles, or watch videos.
''People think it's awesome to get paid for something like that. But the thing is, it steals your dignity, your feeling of self-worth. It's a horrible thing to ask a worker to do, day after day, year after year," he said.
GM spokesman Stefan Weinmann said he was not aware of a mandate that requires workers to be at the plants. ''I'm pretty certain that everyone has a choice," he said, ''they can go to school, go to the plant, or do community service."
Braid now helps Doug, a 50-year-old quadriplegic, with household chores such as mowing the lawn or patching the roof. It is part of a community service effort organized by the union, with the support of the company.
As GM struggles with high healthcare and commodities costs, loss of US market share to foreign rivals, and sputtering sales of its sport utility vehicles due to high gasoline prices, analysts worry that new jobs cuts will add to costs that are already too high.
GM has lost nearly $4 billion this year and its recent pronouncement that it would close 12 plants and slash 30,000 jobs could mean more additions to its jobs bank.
Some analysts say the union and GM are in talks about the plant closings and the fate of the affected workers, and that GM was expected to press the UAW to eliminate the jobs bank. |
