ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 23, 1996 TAG: 9610230052
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: TORONTO
SOURCE: Associated Press
General Motors settled a three-week strike Tuesday with its workers in Canada, resolving a power struggle over job security that had idled more than 46,000 workers across North America.
The Canadian Auto Workers' 26,300 strikers, expected to ratify the agreement in a vote today, could be back at work by the end of the week.
Once the Canadian plants resume production, GM should be able to start bringing back nearly 20,000 U.S. and Mexican workers laid off because of strike-related disruptions.
But it will take time - a GM source said two to three weeks - for the Canadian plants to produce and ship the parts other plants need before they can bring all their workers back. Additional layoffs are expected meanwhile.
To the union, the lengthy negotiations were a ground-breaking and successful challenge to GM's ability to decide on its own whether to sell plants and to ``outsource'' - farm out union work on auto parts to cheaper independent suppliers.
Now, the automaker confronts similar talks in the United States. Negotiators for the UAW and GM met Monday in Detroit after a weekend recess, and the talks are expected to intensify now that there is a settlement in Canada.
LENGTH: Short : 34 linesby CNB