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To: Jim McMannis who wrote (168671)	12/3/2008 1:27:28 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 306849

UAW to suspend jobs bank, rework healthcare trust DETROIT, Dec 3 (Reuters) - United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger said on Wednesday the union would surrender job security protections and delay payments into a historic retiree healthcare trust in concessions intended to help U.S. automakers clinch government aid to survive a sales downturn. Gettelfinger also said the UAW would consider other changes to contracts reached in 2007 with General Motors Corp, Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. Changes would be submitted to union members for ratification. All three Detroit-based automakers said Tuesday that they needed new concessions from the union in restructuring plans submitted to Congress seeking a combined $34 billion of aid. GM asked Congress for $18 billion of aid, including $4 billion by the end of December to avoid collapse, while Chrysler sought $7 billion by the end of the month as well. Ford, widely seen as the strongest of the three, said it was seeking a $9 billion line of credit as insurance in part against the collapse of one of its rivals. Gettelfinger told reporters in a news conference the steps were the "responsible thing to do" and the union was currently engaged in discussions with the automakers to modify the contracts, rather than reopen them. Gettelfinger was speaking at a Detroit hotel after a hastily arranged meeting with union officials who represent workers at the Detroit automakers. The union and automakers reached agreement last year on contracts that created a Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association, or VEBA, to take over an estimated $80 billion of retiree healthcare liabilities starting in 2010. Gettelfinger said the payment schedules for the 2010 VEBA would be deferred to a later date. The jobs bank has been "a lightning rod" for criticism that has shifted focus from the real issues, he said. The mechanics of the suspension were still being worked out, he said. The jobs bank pays nearly full wages and benefits to workers idled by plant closures, but the union already had agreed in 2007 contracts with automakers to sharp limits on the program. Gettelfinger said he was not calling on the Canadian Auto Workers union to make similar moves. (Reporting by Poornima Gupta and Soyoung Kim, writing by David Bailey, Editing by Maureen Bavdek, Richard Chang) forexpros.com