Lede: UAW workers are voting on the new proposed GM contract as the union’s GM National Council unanimously endorses the deal. Doug Cunningham reports.

By Doug Cunningham

The UAW’s GM National Council, consisting of presidents and bargaining chairs from the more than 80 GM facilities nationwide, is unanimously endorsing the tentative contract agreement reached with GM last week. The UAW’s more than 73,000 GM members will wrap up their voting on the tentative agreement October 10th.
The UAW says GM gave unprecedented job security assurances in this proposed contract, spelling out production plans for 16 assembly plants around the country. But the proposed agreement reportedly allows GM to buyout and replace at a lower wage up to 24,000 workers. The union’s national GM council met for four hours Friday, questioning union national leadership on details of the contract. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger insists that UAW retirees and workers at GM will be protected by the health care trust fund called a VEBA. GM is funding the health care trust at about 70 percent of the company’s 80-year retiree health care liability. GM will put $24.1 billion into the VEBA in January and will pay an additional $5.4 billion to cover retiree health care until the VEBA takes over in January of 2010.