UAW chief expects buyout talks in 2008 : US Business

By Kevin Krolicki

DETROIT (Reuters) - United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger on Tuesday said the union expects to begin talks with the Detroit automakers next year on buyouts and early retirement offers for union-represented factory workers.

Gettelfinger, speaking at the Reuters Autos Summit in Detroit, also said the union would not negotiate mid-contract changes to the just-completed labor pacts with the automakers before they expire in 2011.

"I think this contract will live out its life. There have been a lot of major changes made in this agreement," he said.

Gettelfinger said he expects buyout offers to be negotiated in 2008 for General Motors Corp , Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Co , the three automakers that just clinched new four-year labor contracts with the UAW.

"I'm sure it will come up at all three. But we have still got a lot of work to do before we get to that piece of it," Gettelfinger said.

The UAW, which has long enjoyed wages and benefits considered a gold standard for union workers, agreed to sweeping changes in this contract round with the struggling Detroit-based automakers.

Among the changes, the UAW will take charge of providing retiree health care for more than 500,000 union retirees with a $56 billion trust fund financed by the automakers.

The Detroit-based companies had blamed spiraling U.S. health care costs for adding an estimated $1,500 to the price of each vehicle and saddling them with a burden that faster-growing rivals, such as Toyota Motor Corp.<7203.T>, have not faced.

Gettelfinger said UAW negotiators were still working on defining union-represented "non-core" jobs outside the assembly line.

Under the new contracts, GM and Chrysler are expected to be able to bring in thousands of lower-wage new hires for those jobs to replace current workers as they retire or take buyouts.

Under the terms of its slightly different contract with the UAW, Ford has the ability to hire up to 20 percent of its factory work force at the lower wages.

For all three of the automakers, those lower-wage new hires will start at about $14 per hour -- roughly half the current average hourly wage for UAW workers.

The Detroit automakers had pressed for sweeping concessions in the most-recent contract talks with the union, arguing that they faced a competitive gap with Japanese rivals.

But Gettelfinger said the focus should shift now to other costs for the auto industry, including executive compensation.

"Nobody had a problem beating us up about the competitive gap, and I just think we should be asking some tough questions," Gettelfinger said.

(Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

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