UAW Furious Over New GM Plant in China

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that GM has opened a new engine plant in China. My sources inside the UAW believe that this is an insulting hit to the Unions at GM going into the national contractual negotiations.

GM has spent $263 million on this plant that will be used for manufacturing engines for the minicars that GM is selling in China. The plant will be able to manufacture 300,000 units a year, and will start production in August.

My sources inside the UAW believe that this action by GM is a direct insult to the UAW. Since national contractual negotiations are right around the corner, the UAW believes that GM is pushing the publicity of this plant just to anger the UAW.

Some in the UAW believe that GM will hang this plant over their heads during the negotiations as a way of pointing out what the future of the automotive industry could be. These people believe that GM will threaten to do open more plants overseas in an attempt to make the Union back off on some of their arguments and demands.

GM has been opening more and more plants overseas, and in Mexico in an effort to save money. There are many in the UAW that believe that the plants are opening up outside of the United States in an effort to break the Union, and to break GM's reliance on the UAW.

GM has been showing greater gains in China since they began to sell cars there. Most automotive insiders believe that the Chinese market is the future for the U.S. auto industry. These insiders point to the belief that U.S. automakers will be selling more cars in China in the next few years then in the United States.

The UAW believes that it should be able to share in this increasing market. The Union believes that UAW members should be making the majority of the parts that go into the Chinese cars. This would insure their future in the automotive industry.

General Motors believes that most of the Chinese cars and parts should be manufactured in China to ensure more profitability. GM believes that it would be a major hit to profit if it had to pay all of the import costs that would go along with trying to send parts from the United States to China.