Sides deny White House role in strike talks by UAW, GM

WASHINGTON — General Motors and the United Auto Workers union said Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s administration is playing no role that they know of in negotiations to settle a strike, despite a media report to the contrary.

The Trump administration also denied the report posted by Politico on Tuesday afternoon, with deputy press secretary Judd Deere saying, “This story is false.”

“The Trump administration, including [National Economic Council Director] Larry Kudlow and [trade adviser] Peter Navarro, are not involved in the negotiations between the UAW and GM,” Deere said in a statement. “As

President Trump has said, we would like to see a fair and speedy conclusion to these talks.”

Politico, a publication and news website in Washington, reported Tuesday afternoon that the White House had intervened in the negotiations to end the strike, which began at midnight Sunday and involves about 49,000 workers nationwide.

Quoting two anonymous sources said to be “close to the matter,” the Politico report said the White House was interested in a deal that would reopen an idled plant in Lordstown, Ohio, and that Kudlow and Navarro were involved.

GM, however, quickly dismissed the report as untrue, issuing a statement saying that at this point, “the White House has no involvement in negotiations.”

UAW spokesman Brian Rothenberg said the union had no comment “because it’s the first we’ve heard of it.”

For months, Trump has urged GM to take some sort of action that would put people back to work in Lordstown and has railed against steps the company has taken to idle some facilities. This week, however, Trump has made only a few measured public statements about the strike, saying he hopes it is over quickly.

GM stopped paying for health care coverage for striking workers Tuesday, the company confirmed.

That means striking GM workers are eligible for union-paid Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA, coverage, which allows idled employees to retain their health insurance coverage if they are willing to pay for it on their own.

The latest development added to tension as GM and the UAW returned to the bargaining table Tuesday. The two sides negotiated until about 9 p.m. Monday, sources said.

Meanwhile, more details emerged about GM’s offer to the UAW. Two sources familiar with GM’s offer said it called for a 2% wage increase for the first and third year of the four-year contract and 2% lump-sum payments in the second and fourth years.

“Two percent is nothing,” said a local union leader who saw the deal. “We have not gained back anything we gave up” when GM filed for bankruptcy during the recession in 2009.

The local union leader said UAW members want a wage increase that will offset any changes to health care coverage.

GM, which on Sunday made public an overview of its offer that did not include pay specifics, declined to comment on the offer beyond that overview.

Issues such as wages and health care, along with narrowing the pay gap between various workers, are among the sticking points in negotiations, according to sources who said the atmosphere in the negotiating room remained tense.

Rumors had swirled late Monday that striking UAW members were no longer covered by company health care, the cost of which is a major issue in contract talks. To ease the concerns, Terry Dittes, vice president for the UAW’s GM department, sent out a letter saying GM would continue health care benefits through the end of the month for all UAW-represented employees “as provided for in the contract.”

But Dittes later told members that he got a letter from GM on Tuesday “confirming that our striking members’ health care coverage has been cut off by General Motors. During this period, the UAW will provide medical assistance or a COBRA option, if necessary, for you and eligible family members. … Additionally, this answer provided by GM today will be reviewed by UAW legal to see if any further action is required.”

The UAW workers at 55 GM facilities across the United States went on strike after the union contract expired Saturday night.

The union, which represents about 150,000 workers at GM, Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, chose to negotiate first with GM and use any new contract as a template for talks with the other two.

“I’ve got everything I need. These young people need support,” said James Toor, 67, a toolmaker at GM’s engine plant in Romulus, Mich., who was picketing. “Some have been here five years without getting hired in.”