GM-Moraine workers may be offered another buyout
Friday, October 17, 2008
MORAINE — General Motors Corp. will offer workers at its soon-to-be closed Stroop Road plant its second set of buyout- and early-retirement offers in four months, according to information posted by a union on its Web site Friday Oct. 17.
"They're going to do that. They haven't yet, but they will," said Gaylen Turner, president of the local that represents workers at the GM-Moraine plant, the International Union of Electronic Workers-Communication Workers of America Local 798.
GM has said it will end production at the Moraine plant on Dec. 23. Some 1,100 workers remain at the assembly plant, down from some 2,500 a year ago and down further from the summer of 2006, when the plant employed three shifts.
According to information from the union, the latest "special attrition package" will offer those with 10 years or more of seniority or credited service $140,000. Those with less than 10 years can accept $70,000, according to the union summary.
Cash retirement incentives to those who have reached 65 years of age are $45,000 for production workers and $62,500 for skilled trades employees, the union said. Those with 26, 27, 28 and 29 years of credited service can have the option to "grow into" a full 30-year retirement.
There will also be an option to transfer to another GM facility, with up to $75,000 for relocation, the IUE-CWA says.
Turner said the buyout package was a key objective in contract negotiations
"Absolutely, we wanted that," Turner said. It wasn't immediately clear when a tentative contract agreement would be presented to members.
In June, some 786 GM-Moraine workers accepted early retirement or buyout options. Typically, GM uses the offers to replace experienced employees earning higher wages with newer, lower-paid employees.
GM spokesman Dan Flores referred questions to another spokesman who couldn't be immediately reached.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.
