Auto Worker Talks Continue Past Deadline

United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger, right, and General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner shake hands to open their contract talks at the UAW/GM Center for Human Resources in Detroit, in this July 23, 2007 file photo. The United Auto Workers union has picked General Motors Corp. as the lead company and potential strike target in contract negotiations with the Detroit Three, a local union official said Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007. The national contract between the UAW and the automakers expires Sept. 14. (AP Photo/Jerry Mendoza, FILE) (Jerry Mendoza - AP)

DETROIT -- Negotiations between the United Auto Workers and General Motors Corp. continued past a midnight deadline on an hour-by-hour basis, a local union leader said early Saturday as GM workers nationwide prepared for a possible strike.

Chris "Tiny" Sherwood, president of UAW Local 652 at a Cadillac plant in Lansing, Mich., said he received a call at about 1:15 a.m. from UAW leadership in Detroit telling him to give them another hour.

"They've got stuff coming across the table," as bargaining continued, he said.

Workers at union halls waited into the early-morning hours, hoping for news out of Detroit. They readied picket signs in case a strike was called, but as the night wore on, some workers went home to rest.

Douglas Rademacher, president of UAW Local 602 at another Lansing-area plant, said he got his telephone call at 1:23 a.m. from UAW leadership telling him to expect another call in an hour.

"I'm waiting patiently. We're in it for the long haul," he said. "We're planning for the worst, hoping for the best. We support the international union 100 percent."

Union officials had expected a call from UAW leadership around 10 p.m. EDT Friday telling them whether they should strike or stay on the job. But that call didn't come, and just after the midnight deadline, local union leaders were told to hang in there as bargaining continued.

GM spokeswoman Katie McBride said the talks had continued past 2 a.m.

The UAW chose GM as its lead company and possible strike target Thursday. Typically, the union negotiates a contract with the lead company and then presses the other two Detroit automakers to accept the same terms. Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC have extended their contracts indefinitely, although talks are continuing and either side could break off the contract extension with three days' notice.

The UAW still could strike GM, or the two sides could continue negotiating and workers would be covered by the terms of the old four-year contract.

GM had a 65-day supply of vehicles at the end of August, slightly lower than the 67-day average for the U.S.-based automakers, according to Ward's AutoInfoBank. Paul Taylor, chief economist for the National Automobile Dealers Association, said the ideal is a 60-day supply, so that indicates GM didn't build up its inventory in anticipation of a strike.

Taylor said a short strike could actually help GM reduce its inventory of pickups. Right now, the Chevrolet Silverado stands at a 90-day supply, higher than the industry average of 81 days for pickups. GM announced last month that it plans to cut 1,200 jobs at one of the plants that makes the Silverado, and a strike could speed that process.

But Taylor said a longer strike, or a strike that could hurt hot-selling vehicles, would be disastrous. The Buick Enclave crossover, for example, has only a 24-day supply and is leading a revival of the Buick brand. Taylor said Asian automakers have enough inventory _ an average supply of 45 days _ to pick up the slack if GM's supply diminished, which would also hurt the company.

"I see some posturing to let them know a strike is still a tool that can be used, but it's like bleeding both patients in the negotiations with leeches," he said. "It would bleed both sides to death."

Catherine Madden, an auto manufacturing analyst with Global Insight, said GM has done a good job of controlling its inventory this year compared to past years. She fears a strike would hurt the company's rollout of 2008 model year vehicles, particularly the Chevrolet Malibu sedan.

"We're forecasting a very bleak year for 2008, with no growth," she said. "A strike could push things in deeper and exacerbate what's already going to be a difficult year."

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Associated Press writer Marv Kropko in Cleveland contributed to this report.