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GM strike talks drag on
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July 8, 1998: 12:23 p.m. ET
Company optimistic over marathon session; walkout affecting suppliers
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - A new round of talks between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and General Motors Corp. (GM) began in Detroit Wednesday, raising expectations that the end of a crippling strike, now in its second month, might be near.
The company took hope from the fact that the talks had gone late into the night Tuesday at both striking plants.
"We're very pleased with that," GM spokeswoman Mary Irby said. "They wouldn't have met that long if it weren't for good reason."
Gerald Knechtel, GM's vice president of North American personnel, and Richard Shoemaker, a UAW vice president, negotiated past 11 p.m. Tuesday in Flint, Mich., while talks at the Flint Metal Center went on past midnight.
"They've been meeting since Saturday at the Holiday Inn," said Russ Brown, vice president at UAW Local 659. "Once that's settled, I'm sure we can go through the plant (issues) in a few hours and get ours resolved."
To date, little concrete progress has been made toward an agreement between workers and management in ending the strike, which began over staffing levels and safety concerns.
One stumbling block to the negotiations may be GM's reported insistence that the UAW pledge not to strike again, preventing future disputes like the current walkout, which has idled more than 160,000 workers and cost GM an estimated $1.2 billion so far.
Brown declined to say whether the late-night meetings signal a potential settlement is near. Industry analysts have speculated a deal could be announced before the end of the week, when GM normally would be coming off a two-week model-changeover shutdown.
Stock in General Motors (GM) has fallen 6.54 percent, or 4-15/16, since the strike began June 5. In mid-morning Wednesday trading it was at 70-1/2.
Financial ripples expand
Separately, the effects of the strike have spread to at least one GM supplier. Johnson Controls Inc. said late Tuesday the it was forced it to lay off 1,600 workers because of the GM production freeze, which drastically reduced its own sales of car seats and other interior components.
Johnson said that the strike will hurt its earnings for the quarter ended June 30 by 10 cents per share.
By mid-morning, Johnson stock (JCI) was down 1/2 at 56-7/8. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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