A businessman seeking to buy General Motors Co.'s Indianapolis metal-stamping plant met with workers Sunday at Lucas Oil
Stadium to urge them to accept pay cuts allowing the sale.
The owner of Illinois-based JD Norman Industries came to Indianapolis to make a personal plea for United Auto Workers Local
23 to allow a vote on his proposed five-year contract.
JD Norman Industries advertisement tells employees that its proposal to buy the plant would guarantee
their GM transfer rights without having to close the facility.
Indiana Commerce Secretary Mitch Roob said he was completely surprised by local General Motors workers’ refusal to vote on
a proposed contract by JD Norman Industries, a decision that appears to set up the plant for certain closure.
UAW Local 23 bargaining chairman Gregory Clark says members won’t vote on the proposed contract, which would cut base wages from $29 per hour to $15.50.
Fliers circulating at General Motors' Indianapolis plant show that union members will be offered cash payments of $25,000
to $35,000 and an opportunity to keep a foot in the door with GM, if they agree to work for JD Norman Industries.
The UAW in Detroit said Local 23 will vote Monday on Illinois-based JD Norman's proposal to buy an Indianapolis stamping
plant where more than 600 work, but a local rep says workers don't want to negotiate.
GM spokesman Kevin Nadrowski says officials at the Kokomo Integrated Circuit Fab plant met with 375 workers Wednesday to
say they're "assessing the business model at the plant based on recent business developments."
Negotiations for wage cuts meant to grease the sale of a General Motors stamping plant slated for closure will proceed over
public protest of 650 local union
workers.
There’s more time for Illinois-based JD Norman Industries to hammer out a deal to buy a General Motors stamping plant
in Indianapolis, potentially saving hundreds of local jobs.
United Auto Workers official Maurice "Mo" Davison is making one last attempt
to put a deal together for a Chicago-area firm to buy the General Motors stamping plant southwest of downtown Indianapolis,
which is slated to close in 2011.
A state official says General Motors could scuttle plans to sell an Indianapolis stamping plant marked for closing unless
a local union agrees to consider pay cuts.
The automaker will keep open nine of 11 assembly plants—including one in Fort Wayne—to make 56,000 more vehicles
that are in high demand, such as the Buick LaCrosse luxury sedan and the Chevrolet Traverse large crossover vehicle.
The recall affects several pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles, crossovers and passenger car models from the 2006 to 2009
model years. GM conducted a similar recall in 2008 but came across new reports of fires in vehicles that had been fixed.
The proposed sites include the Indianapolis Stamping plant on the west side and the former GM Delco Plant 5 in Kokomo.
UAW official says General Motors and prospective buyer are working on a “real aggressive” schedule to have the acquisition
completed by the end of June.
City and union officials say General Motors has found a potential buyer for an Indianapolis stamping plant that it has planned
to shut down: JD Norman Industries of suburban Chicago.
General Motors plans to invest $111 million and add 245 new jobs at a plant in Bedford as part of a larger effort to make
its fleet more fuel-efficient.
GM executives said Friday that about 600 dealerships out of the 1,100 seeking to stay with GM will receive letters giving
them the option to remain with the automaker.
Unless a last-minute buyer steps forward, General Motors Co.'s Hummer brand is fading into history.
