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StumbleuponGM mum on retraining issue
Turner, union ask company to reword its buyout to give workers access to unemployment benefits.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
MORAINE — Congressman Mike Turner and local union representatives are awaiting a response from General Motors Corp. to their request that GM reconsider wording in its Special Attrition Package that would deny 783 employees access to unemployment and retraining benefits.
Under Ohio law, accepting voluntary separation packages does not make employees ineligible for unemployment compensation, said Julie Smith, of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Incentive payments are ruled deductible from unemployment compensation based on whether those incentive payments are allocated to the last day worked or in the future. For the 783 Moraine employees who took that option in early June those payments are allocated to the first day after the employee has left the company, meaning they are deductible, Turner said.
The GM Moraine Assembly plant was granted a Trade Adjustment Assistance petition on June 17, which classified the facility as one that has been adversely affected by foreign trade. Any employee who leaves the company during the following two years is eligible for benefits such as job training, re-employment services, according to ODJFS's Web site.
However, those benefits are only accessible after unemployment compensation has been exhausted, Turner said, which may never occur given that in many cases the lump sum incentive payments are large enough to completely cover the amount of per-week unemployment compensation.
According to Willie Thorpe, benefit director of IUE-CWA, the base wage for a production worker with at least 10 years' service is about $28 per hour. At that wage rate it would takemore than a year and a half to exhaust thoseincentive payments before applying for unemployment compensation. They would still need to exhaust those benefits before taking advantage of TAA provisions, Tuner explained.
"We want them (former Moraine employees) to receive unemployment compensation. We want them to receive these retraining fees," Turner said.
Harry Bogan, director of Region 7 IUE-CWA said the issue came up during the first round of Delphi buyouts and two appeals to the company to change its wording were unsuccessful.
"If the company says you're not eligible (for unemployment), you have a problem," Bogan said, adding that he was not optimistic that a resolution would be reached as GM has indicated that it is not willing to negotiate on the issue.
A spokesperson for GM said that the company does not comment on past or present negotiations.
Contact this reporter at ahazlett@DaytonDailyNews.com
