GM CEO Met With UAW President to Jump-Start Stalled Labor Talks

By Nora Naughton 

General Motors Co. CEO Mary Barra met on Wednesday with UAW President Gary Jones to jump-start stalled contract talks and end a 25-day strike at the company's U.S. factories, according to people briefed on the meeting.

Ms. Barra asked for the meeting with Mr. Jones and the UAW's top bargainer for GM, Terry Dittes, concerned the union had yet to respond to the company's latest proposal, which it shared with the union Monday, the people said. The meeting was at GM's Detroit headquarters, in the same building where negotiations are under way, the people said.

Top negotiators for the union and the company haven't met at the main bargaining table in the last two days, a sign talks have slowed, the people say.

The talks have continued only on the committee level, where details of larger items are usually hashed out, the people said, adding those meetings extended late into the night Wednesday. Bargaining on the committee level resumed Thursday morning.

After significant progress last week, talks hit a snag Sunday, prompting Mr. Dittes to send a letter to members informing them talks had taken a "turn for the worse."

The meeting between Ms. Barra and Mr. Jones was first reported by The New York Post.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 10, 2019 16:43 ET (20:43 GMT)

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