P.M. BRIEFING : UAW, GM Open Contract Talks

A ceremonial handshake today on the fifth floor of the massive General Motors Corp. building began a process that some observers predict may end in a strike of at least one Big Three auto maker in September.

Negotiations between the giant auto maker and the United Auto Workers union for a new national labor contract got under way after a 10-minute photo opportunity in which GM Vice President Alfred S. Warren Jr. and UAW President Owen Bieber reached across a table to shake hands.

UAW talks with Ford Motor Co. will begin Thursday, with Chrysler Corp. negotiations to open Friday. The three contracts expire at midnight Sept. 14.

As negotiators smiled inside, about 2,000 demonstrators gathered outside to demand increased cost-of-living allowances for UAW retirees. Union leaders earlier rejected an effort to make such allowances a key issue of the talks.

The demonstrators today chanted “Millions for Roger; peanuts for us,” referring to GM Chairman Roger Smith’s hefty retirement plan.