Workers at a Federal-Mogul Corp. engine bearing plant in Greenville voted on Saturday to accept more than $US5 million in wage and benefit cuts to save their jobs, according to the Detroit News.
The paper noted that the financially strapped Southfield-based automotive supplier threatened to close the factory and move 310 jobs to a location where labour and operating costs are lower, such as Mexico.
Just last Sunday, members of United Auto Workers Local 2017 overwhelmingly rejected the same offer by a vote of hands, the report said.
“This is a testament to our employees’ understanding of the challenging situation at the Greenville facility and the ability of Federal-Mogul and our employees to come together and reach a mutually beneficial agreement,” Scott Pepin, director of human resources for Federal-Mogul’s power train group, reportedly said in a statement. “Coupled with the support of state and local government officials and the cost savings and increased efficiencies achieved at the facility, we will be able to continue operations in Greenville for the foreseeable future.”
The Detroit News said company and union officials met on Thursday and agreed to modify the tentative agreement reached on June 3.
Federal-Mogul’s financial objectives did not change under the latest proposal, a company statement reportedly said. But the timing of some benefit concessions has been adjusted, a spokesman told the paper, without elaborating.
Under the new agreement, employee wages will be cut by $US1.19 an hour over the next four years, with no pay reduction the first year, paid holidays will be reduced by four days a year, and workers will shoulder higher medical insurance and prescription drug co-payments, the report said.
As part of the deal, Federal-Mogul will not have to pay $500,000 in severance pay for 80 employees whose jobs will be lost over the several years, the Detroit News said, noting that the firm originally sought up to $7 million in concessions, but later sought savings of $5.35 million to $5.5 million.
