The DMAX plant on Dryden Road was not altogether shut down, said Carl Kennebrew, president of the IUE-CWA, the union which represents about 670 hourly workers at DMAX.
“Just one part of the building is running, which I believe is the block line,” Kennebrew said. “And it’s just kind of day-to-day as far as following the UAW strike and getting updates every day as far as when they’ll get back to work.”
As of Monday, that was unclear. Even if a tentative agreement were hammered out in talks late Monday, negotiators would still have to take that agreement to the UAW’s executive council.
If the council found the proposal acceptable, it would then have to present the proposal to members, scheduling and executing a membership vote, said Kristin Dziczek, vice president of industry and labor with the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.
“They may stay out even once they reach a tentative agreement, just in case the tentative agreement doesn’t pass,” Dziczek said.
Chris Blizard, president of UAW Local 402, said about 1,400 workers are temporarily laid off at Navistar in Springfield.
Blizard said Navistar’s main line in Springfield, which builds medium-duty trucks including GM models, and its line two, which makes cutaway GM vans, both shut down Monday. The lines are expected to be down for the rest of the week.
Several facilities that provide parts to the Springfield plant were also affected by the GM strike leading to a shortage in parts.
The Springfield plant itself is not closing down this week and some employees will continue to work, Blizard said.
Dziczek called talks on Monday “quiet.”
“My sources are pretty quiet. There are some very difficult issues that they’re working with. And the settlement has to be somewhere in the middle,” she said.
GM builds the heavy-duty Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra crew and regular cab pickups at its Flint, Mich. plant, trucks that can take the DMAX-built Duramax engine as an option. Those trucks are popular enough to justify GM’s exploration of building a new $175 million plant in Brookville for the machining of engine blocks and heads to supply the Moraine DMAX plant.
“Any new business coming to this area or any area is always good news,” Kennebrew said. “Any manufacturing, any growth, is always good news for the IUE and the Dayton area.”
GM has said more than 100 workers will be employed at the new Brookville plant at first, including a small number of transfers from DMAX in Moraine. Kennebrew said the IUE will represent those new workers, who will be DMAX employees.
David Kudla, a University of Dayton graduate and chief executive of Mainstay Capital Management in Grand Blanc, Mich., predicted nearly two weeks ago that DMAX would feel the impact if the UAW struck GM.
“If GM is not accepting those deliveries (of auto parts), then they (suppliers) can’t make parts, they are going to be laying off employees, and we’re already seeing that,” Kudla said. “And there will be more to come the longer the strike goes on.”
GM leaders almost certainly saw this strike coming and were able to plan ahead in terms of building an inventory of vehicles in the system, he said. “So there’s a little bit of time here.”
“I’m sure both sides want to reach a deal, and they’re working toward that,” Kudla said.
A UAW spokesman said negotiators worked through the weekend and resumed talks Monday morning. A message was left for a GM spokesman.
Dziczek said there are likely a number of possible sticking points in negotiations. With dramatically different parts configurations, electric vehicles may be seen as a threat to UAW members’ jobs.
And the sides may be at an impasse over the treatment of temporary workers, with the UAW seeking the improvement of wages, benefits and job security for everyone, including temporary workers, and GM resisting that.
In essence, the UAW will want all the guarantees it can win for the next four years, while GM negotiators will seek to stay nimble in an ever-changing market.
Another wrinkle: The federal corruption investigation into UAW leadership.
“The industry has changed a lot since the 1970s,” Dziczek said. “There’s a lot of uncharted territory we’re in right now.”
But while the sides talk, there’s hope of a resolution at some point.
“I’m hopeful because they’re meeting every day,” she said. “When they break off talks, then its time to get depressed.”
Staff Writer Hasan Karim contributed to this story.
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