Meanwhile, there appeared to be little additional progress in parallel talks with Chrysler, though union and company officials are continuing to meet.
“Labor agreements of this magnitude undergo numerous changes and revisions as the language becomes finalized,” Joe Ashton, the U.A.W. vice president in charge of dealings with G.M., wrote in an update posted online. “I am very optimistic that the negotiations process is entering its final stage.”
He concluded, “I truly believe that a settlement is within reach.”
Bargainers from G.M. and the union reconvened at 9 a.m. Friday, 12 hours after adjourning Thursday evening.
“We’ve made great progress,” Jordana Strosberg, a G.M. spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.
The union has agreed to a day-by-day extension at G.M. to complete the outstanding issues separating the two sides, including job commitments in plants, signing bonuses for workers and a pay increase for entry-level employees.
The union’s president, Bob King, has been conducting parallel talks with G.M. and Chrysler, the two Detroit automakers that were bailed out by the Obama administration in 2009.
But Chrysler abruptly asked for a weeklong contract extension on Wednesday night after Mr. King did not attend a scheduled session with Chrysler’s chief executive, Sergio Marchionne.
Instead, Mr. King seeks to set a pattern on wages and bonuses at G.M., and then try to match it at Chrysler and Ford.
The union cannot strike either G.M. or Chrysler as a condition of their federal aid packages. That is not the case with Ford, which turned itself around without government assistance.
It is not unusual for the union to grant a contract extension if it is close to a deal with one automaker. G.M. has been determined to be the first company to settle and establish a cost structure that will help its comeback.
Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=76f51eb1d84e30440f43ecae7ec5635f
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