Although unconfirmed by General Motors, numerous reports indicate that the United Auto Workers’ retiree health care trust fund would take a 17.5 percent stake in the automaker after it completes its restructuring. Union officials were apparently told of agreement which would see about $10 billion in GM assets placed into the fund.
That’s significantly down from the 39 percent UAW share that had been previously reported. The restructured automaker is still expected to be controlled by the United States Treasury, however.
The Wall Street Journal says that the UAW’s Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association, which is owed about $20 billion by GM to cover future health care costs of union retirees and their families. The UAW would also get $2.5 billion from GM to be paid in three installments in 2013, 2015 and 2017.
05/26, 3:10 PM
posted by:
Borat
How kind of them.
05/26, 3:40 PM
posted by:
CADDY-V
It makes you wonder if GM even could have lasted 100 years without all the help they get from the unions?
The union seems to just make it all work.
05/26, 3:42 PM
posted by:
mayer_ray_nagin
This means that they are only 17.5% away from where I might consider buying a GM vehicle … but that’s only if the federal government stake is also zero.
GM vehicles have been off the plate of consideration for a few months now. No way I am supporting a nationalized hellhole.
05/26, 4:14 PM
posted by:
JakeK66
I’d take 17.5% if it included performance division (inc. Corvette). Heck, throw in the Pontiac name brand with the RWD Zeta/Alpha platforms, the Sigma II (Insignia) and the Astra, and I could make a pretty strong little niche car company.
05/26, 4:17 PM
posted by:
JakeK66
I would make them Pontiac/Opel dealerships with Pontiac being all RWD and Opel a mix of FWD and AWD. Wait? Isn’t that pretty much what GM wanted to do? Shows how much the economic times and government f*cked things up
05/26, 4:26 PM
posted by:
carstuff
This to me means that someone is getting more of GM than what they thought.
There are 3 others in the running: US Government, stockholders and debtholders.
US will probably take a larger chunk since they are now going to need to put a whole bunch of DIP money in to keep GM afloat until times get better. This bankruptcy is not going to suddenly stop the losses every month.
Perhaps the stock holders will get more than 1%?? Debtholders will probably get about the same or perhaps even less. Priority goes to the DIP financier. Perhaps some will go to suppliers that are owed money. Of course does them little good since they need the cash now. Perhaps they could sell their stock on the market to get the cash?
Jake, Insignia is is off the Epsilon II.
05/26, 4:38 PM
posted by:
Go Saab
In 1989 the workers owned the Soviet auto companies and the capitalist pigs owned the US auto companies. In 2009 the…
05/26, 5:35 PM
posted by:
shane train
Go Saab- ……….U.S. Government pulled the US auto company out of debt and accepted partial ownership as a reward for doing so?
05/26, 8:36 PM
posted by:
GayEmoBetch
In Soviet Russia the Nurburgring does a 7:26 session on around you.
05/26, 9:43 PM
posted by:
leftwingagenda
only a few more hours before the deadline…and last i heard the debtholders were the stick in the mud…the stock market has already priced in the news, time to pull off the bandaid and get it over with…
05/26, 10:31 PM
posted by:
American_Cars_Crap
all the more reason not to buy an american made car. Why would you spend your hard earned money on garbage knowing that a good percentage of that money will be going to fund a mafia that is the original problem with domestically built cars? Its your responsible duty to stay as far away from poorly built unreliable cars built by greedy union workers. If you buy ford, gm, or chrysler, you deserve all the expensive and time consuming problems your car will give you!
05/26, 10:45 PM
posted by:
maxcar
isn’t that a rather large conflict of interest.
05/27, 4:11 AM
posted by:
bghewy
Sounds like its all getting worse not better. The cost of supporting people who not longer work for the company is huge and a concept that here in Australia would be laughed at. Time to just let GM go under. Yes there will be job loss, but compare the short term losses compared to how much it will cost you the tax payer to keep GM afloat for the rest of its life. Sure letting GM go will hurt us here in Australia to with Holden being a large export earner for the local economy through deals in the middle east, us and asia pacific. Sometimes though these tough decisions need to be made, and the longer they put it off the worse it will be.