With the strike just a few days old, stupid, chicken-sh.t, over-paid
auto workers elect to go back to loafing on the lines.

What in the world could the UAW membership have been thinking that a
costly strike would help better their jobs, benefits, and lives?

The days of guaranteed jobs is long over!
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UPDATE 7-GM, UAW settle strike; auto shares jump
Wed Sep 26, 2007 12:43pm EDT

By Nick Carey and David Bailey

DETROIT, Sept 26 (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers union and General
Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) agreed to a new contract
on Wednesday, ending a two-day nationwide strike by 73,000 workers
with a groundbreaking deal that includes a health-care trust fund.

News of the tentative four-year pact sent the automaker's shares up
more than 6 percent in early trading.
The agreement allows GM to shift more than $50 billion of retiree
health-care liabilities to an independent union-aligned trust --
considered a key requirement in closing the labor-cost gap between
U.S. automakers and their foreign competitors.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, speaking at a news conference at the
union's Detroit headquarters, said production at GM facilities would
resume on Wednesday, two days after the first national UAW strike at
GM since 1970.

The union expects to meet on Thursday or Friday with local unit
presidents to go over the details to allow for local ratification
meetings over the weekend, Gettelfinger said.

"We feel very confident it will be ratified," he said.

Ratification requires a majority vote of UAW members.
GM shares rose 4.8 percent to $36.08 at midday on the New York Stock
Exchange, while Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) shares
rose 4.5 percent to $8.72. The price of GM bonds rose after news of
the deal and the cost of protecting debt with credit default swaps
fell sharply.

Continued...

http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSL2684385920070926