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GM calls strike illegal
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June 24, 1998: 6:31 p.m. ET
Automaker gives union until Thursday to respond to letter
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - General Motors Corp. went on the offensive Wednesday, accusing the United Auto Workers Union of waging an illegal strike and threatening to withhold unemployment benefits for the 146,000 workers idled by the walkout.
In a harshly worded statement, GM Vice President Gerald Knechtel said the company was taking action because GM is concerned about the effect of the 20-day walkout on the company and its employees.
"GM yesterday filed a grievance with the International Union, UAW, a step provided for in our national agreement," he said in the statement. "The grievance requests expedited arbitration based on our belief that the strikes at the Flint Metal Center and Delphi East violate the terms of the national agreement. Our contention is that the strikeable issues identified by the union are contrived and that the real issues that led to these costly disputes are ones that the union has agreed to be non-strikeable."
Production at the nation's largest automaker (GM) nearly ground to a halt Wednesday with only three facilities throughout North American still operating.
Industry analysts estimate the strike is costing the automaker more than $75 million a day, putting it on track to become the worse labor battle at GM in nearly 30 years.
Knechtel said GM would also seek unspecified damages against the UAW and has requested a response from the union within 48 hours.
"We are willing to let the facts speak for themselves," he said. "GM is prepared and eager to resolve the issues at the center of these disputes in an attempt to get our people back to work."
"Believing that we should not have to support a strike against ourselves, we have decided to protest the payment of state unemployment compensation to workers impacted by the strikes by the two Flint local unions," he added. "We will vigorously pursue this action in all of the states in which we have affected operations."
The move comes as relations between the UAW and GM have deteriorated considerably since the strike with negotiators barely speaking to each other during the daily sessions.
Union representatives and GM officials "are in the plant but they're not together. We can't keep them at the table," GM spokesman Gerry Holmes said.
Officials from UAW Local 659 weren't available for comment.
Striking workers are paid only $150 a week by the UAW so long as they spend at least four hours picketing. However, workers from other plants that are idled as a result of the strike can file for state unemployment benefits.
As of 4 p.m., the only operating facilities were the Saturn plant in Spring Hill, Tenn.; a small car plant in Mexico; and a truck plant in Ontario, according to GM spokesman Gerry Holmes.
Local 659 Vice President Russell Brown told Reuters the union is "still willing to meet 24 hours a day" to resolve the strike.
But Brown added that GM's letter was a setback.
The UAW legally has the right to strike only on issues related to worker health and safety and over production standards. Although the major issues at the Flint Metal Center are job security and commitments for future investment, the union has said its grievances affect safety and production standards.
But GM has little chance of winning a court injunction to stop the strikes, according to Harley Shaiken, a labor relations professor at the University of California-Berkeley.
"It's another sign of the tension that is enflaming this strike," Shaiken said. "GM is just pushing the UAW here, tweaking them."
-- from staff and wire reports
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