GM, UAW cut deal on jobs bank

About 400 General Motors Corp. skilled trades workers in Flint and Lansing assigned to the automaker's controversial jobs bank may be forced to learn a different job or go to work at a distant factory if they don't take a new buyout offer extended by the company.

GM's move to clear out the jobs bank — factory workers who collect most of their pay and benefits despite being laid off — was made possible by a first-of-its-kind agreement with the United Auto Workers.

Under the terms, which apply only to skilled trades workers in Flint and Lansing, GM can compel those who don't take the buyout to retrain for another skilled trade, move them to an unskilled production job and even relocate them to a plant in another city or state.

"Remaining in the current jobs bank is not an option," GM spokesman Dan Flores said. "This is about GM and the UAW continually looking for ways to improve competitiveness." More at Detroit News