New GM Contract Would Sweeten the Pot for Laid-Off Van Nuys Crew : Labor: Employees of closed plant would see big pension boost. UAW is expected to overwhelmingly approve pact.

What’s bad for General Motors is good for about 1,200 blue-collar workers who lost their jobs when the automotive giant closed its Van Nuys plant in August, 1992.

Under the United Auto Workers’ new contract with GM--which union members are expected to approve overwhelmingly--the laid-off workers will continue to receive full paychecks and health benefits for three more years.

The Van Nuys auto workers readily registered their approval of the pact, with Local 645 voting 557 to 2 on Sunday in favor of the agreement. Other local votes are scheduled around the country over the next two weeks.

Dozens of workers eligible for an early-retirement plan offered by GM when the auto maker closed Southern California’s last car factory chose instead to collect unemployment benefits, hoping that the union would negotiate an increase in pension benefits in this year’s talks.

Their gamble paid off.

Along with employees of three other General Motors Corp. plants that are either closed or scheduled to close, eligible Van Nuys workers will be able to choose from two generous retirement plans under the new contract. (Workers with 30 years of service can retire regardless of age; otherwise, qualifying depends on a combination of age and years of service.)

The first option allows retirees to collect a full pension and work full time at another job outside GM without being penalized. Under this plan, GM would give retirees a $10,000 voucher toward the purchase of a new GM car or truck plus $4,000 to pay tax and registration fees.

Under the alternative plan, retirees who agree not to earn more than $15,500 a year at another job would get a $15,000 car voucher plus $6,000 toward tax, license and registration fees.

Typical of the eligible workers, Sal Garza, 52, and Pete Placencia, 59, each worked at the Van Nuys plant 35 years.

“I could’ve retired after 30 years, but I chose to collect unemployment and hang on until the new contract was negotiated,” said Placencia. “I definitely plan to retire now. We’ve got some real good retirement benefits now. I expect to get about $2,000 a month.”

Garza, a former forklift mechanic, was injured in a plant accident in 1988 and has been receiving disability payments since. But he too will now apply for retirement.

“I would be foolish not to retire now that our pension has been improved,” he said.

Under terms of the new contract--which analysts say leaves GM with a higher cost structure than its Detroit competitors--laid-off Van Nuys workers who do not retire are guaranteed close to full pay and health benefits through Sept. 14, 1996.

Workers can turn down job offers at other GM plants. On declining a transfer, the worker would stop receiving a GM paycheck and instead receive a complicated mix of state unemployment and GM supplemental benefits amounting to 85% to 100% of their gross pay, with the level depending on their participation in community service or retraining programs.

GM, which has been slicing away at its work force and shutting down plants in a desperate campaign to cut costs, is setting set aside $580 million for the supplemental benefits fund nationwide. The company announced last week that it was taking a $950-million charge in the third quarter to pay for plant closings and benefits for laid-off workers.

Regardless of age, laid-off workers can also give up their health insurance--which is fully paid by GM--in exchange for $60,000 cash. That could prove attractive for workers with health coverage through a spouse’s job.

When the Van Nuys plant closed, Local 645 represented about 2,600 workers. About 600 retired, while another 300 accepted employment at GM parts plants in 10 states, including a plant in Santa Fe Springs that now employs about 10 former Van Nuys workers among its labor force of 200.

Another 500 Van Nuys workers have either moved or taken jobs with other companies, union officials said.

“It’s not a free ride,” said Dennis Dalrymple, who worked as an electrician at the Van Nuys plant for 20 years, “but compared to people living on the street, we’re doing OK.” Dalrymple, who has not found a job, is enrolled in film classes at UCLA.