UAW Agrees to End Walkout at GM Plant : Labor: The auto maker hopes to have all of its facilities affected by the strike back in operation by later this week.

General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers union announced late Monday afternoon a tentative agreement to end a five-day walkout at the company’s AC Rochester West parts plant in Flint.

GM spokesman John Maciarz said a ratification vote was planned for today but that no details of the agreement would be released until after the vote.

Pending ratification, Maciarz said the auto maker hoped to have all of its plants and facilities affected by the strike back in operation by later this week or early next week.

“There is a meeting scheduled for Tuesday (today) at 2 o’clock to go over the agreement before the vote,” said Larry Sills, strike chairman of UAW Local 659.

“We hope to have that vote by the afternoon so plants can get back in operation,” Sills added.

The strike by about 3,200 workers over long-standing disputes concerning health, safety, subcontracting and outsourcing has halted output at several GM facilities in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Louisiana since last Wednesday, idling more than 12,230 workers as of late Monday.

Among the latest plants and facilities to feel the effects of the strike were GM’s Buick City assembly plant in Flint. About 3,500 workers were sent home by noon Monday because of a parts shortage.

GM also sent home about 400 workers who build crew cab chassis at its Flint Truck & Bus plant, while an additional 100 workers were idled at its Flint Truck & Bus Metal Fabrication plant, bringing the number of idled workers there to 388 out of 3,500, company spokesman Tom Pyden said.

The strike also affected workers at other parts plants throughout GM’s massive operations who had been making components to furnish now halted assembly lines.

GM facilities also affected included its Delco Electronics plant in Kokomo, Ind., where 150 out of 6,600 workers were idled.

The company also sent 200 of the 7,600 workers at its Packard Electric plant in Warren, Ohio, home.

The walkouts include about 2,700 workers at the AC West plant.

Another 360 workers at GM’s Flint Tool & Die plant located outside the AC complex also walked off the job because they are part of UAW Local 659.

GM, like most car makers, operates on a streamlined inventory system called “just-in-time” manufacturing, which cuts costs and improves quality--but makes its assembly plants more vulnerable to strikes at parts facilities.