GM, UAW Cut Jobs Bank Deal

General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers union reach a deal to force some 400 Michigan workers to leave the Jobs Bank, a program that guarantees nearly full wages for workers who lose their job as a result of productivity improvements or plant closings.

Under the agreement, 85 skilled trades workers in Flint, MI, and about 300 employees in Lansing, MI, will have a number of choices other than remaining in the jobs bank. Among those would be transfer to other jobs within GM or acceptance of an early retirement offer similar to the one the auto maker offered some 34,410 workers last year.

If workers accept jobs more than 50 miles (80 km) away, GM will pay relocation costs up to $67,000.

Meanwhile, GM says it may take a $1 billion charge in the second quarter as a result of its financial exposure to Delphi Corp.’s restructuring. GM already has taken a $6 billion charge to date, and the additional $1 billion would bring the total to what it has estimated its total exposure may be in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.