GOP leader: No more money for GM without plan-WEB ONLY

U.S. House Republican leader John Boehner said yesterday he doesn’t support handing over more federal money to keep General Motors Corp. afloat unless the automaker develops a viable and long-term business model and can pay back government loans.

“Anything short of that is just throwing good money after bad,” Boehner said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

As part of the deal that provided $17.4 billion in federal aid to General Motors and Chrysler LLC, the companies must seek changes in their contracts with the United Auto Workers by March 31. The car companies, which have asked for an additional $21.6 billion in federal money, must bring their labor costs in line with those of foreign competitors’ plants in the United States.

Although Ford Motor Co. has not sought federal assistance, it has reached an agreement with the UAW to freeze wages and make other concessions. Union members were expected to finish voting on the proposed agreement today.

While Boehner said he hopes that GM will not have to turn to bankruptcy, Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Richard Shelby of Alabama said they want the automaker to seek bankruptcy protection, which would allow for reorganization.

“I think the best thing that could probably happen to General Motors, in my view, is they go into Chapter 11, they reorganize, they renegotiate their union management contracts and come out of it a stronger, better, leaner and more competitive automotive industry,” McCain said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Shelby, appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” said Chrysler and Ford as well as GM belong in Chapter 11 and then could get federal money as part of the process of reorganization.

“Short of that, the UAW will run those companies and run them into the ground,” he said.

Boehner said GM’s survival will depend on employees, stockholders and others with a financial interest in the company agreeing on a plan for the future.

“It’s an important institution in our country. It impacts hundreds of thousands of jobs. But they have to do the serious work that they’ve avoided doing over the last 30 years if they’re going to survive,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Auto Workers union said yesterday it had reached a tentative agreement with GM on a multiyear pay freeze and other concessions needed to qualify the company for government aid.

The deal freezes wages and pensions through September 2012 and for the first time requires workers and retirees to pay health care premiums. Cost-of-living adjustments also are frozen until June 2012. The deal would extend a previous contract with GM by one year.

The union had said last Thursday it was willing to help GM’s Canadian unit cut costs in its bid to qualify for Canadian government loans.

The 10,000 workers covered by the contract will hold ratification votes tomorrow and Wednesday, the union said. The union said it plans to continue its practice of pattern bargaining with the three North American automakers and said talks will begin this week with either Ford Motor Co. or Chrysler LLC.

GM Canada is eligible for loans of up to 3 billion Canadian dollars – or $2.3 billion in U.S. dollars – under a government aid package. It submitted a restructuring plan last month.