Bieber Doesn’t Want to Talk to GM Defeatists

The United Auto Workers doesn’t want to deal with defeatists at General Motors Corp. who are ready to accept a reduced role for the world’s largest industrial corporation, UAW President Owen Bieber said today.

“For the first time in decades, GM is on the verge of saying that it doesn’t care if it’s No. 1 in sales any more, provided the bottom line is OK,” Bieber told 307 union delegates from GM plants at a three-day bargaining convention here.

“If this defeatist faction calls the shots in these negotiations, there is bound to be trouble, since we are totally opposed to their assumptions and values,” Bieber warned.

“Fortunately, there is another element in the General Motors hierarchy that’s not ready to throw in the towel and admit defeat, that thinks in terms of future products instead of short-term profits, and that sees opportunity rather than disaster in the intense competition that lies ahead.”

The UAW’s contracts with GM and Ford Motor Co. expire Sept. 14. Talks for a replacement at GM begin July 27. Although a date hasn’t been set for the beginning of Ford talks, they traditionally start one day after the GM negotiations.

GM has announced the coming closure of at least 17 assembly, parts and metal-casting operations in the United States. More than 30,000 UAW workers stand to lose their GM jobs by late 1989.

Conceding that the union is powerless to halt the closings, Bieber and other top UAW officials are focusing instead on improving the cushions for laid-off workers and obtaining job security for remaining workers.