Mitsubishi, UAW reach tentative deal at US plant

NORMAL, ILLINOIS: Mitsubishi Motors North America and the United Auto Workers said on Friday they have reached a tentative deal on a new collective bargaining agreement for the company's plant in Normal, Illinois.

In a joint statement, Mitsubishi and the union said they would make no further comment until the workers vote on the deal. Mitsubishi spokesman Dan Irvin would not say when workers might vote. The union did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press.

The plant's 1,264 union employees have been working without a contract since their most recent labor agreement expired Sept 5, after the union unanimously rejected the automaker's latest offer.

Irvin said the company reduced the plant's work force by about 100 through buyouts this summer. The plant, which opened in 1988, now employs less than half the workers it did at its peak just under 10 years ago.

The plant's workers accepted pay and benefit cuts in 2006 in exchange for the promise that their jobs would be safe for two years. The union narrowly voted to accept that deal, which expired Aug. 28. Both sides agreed to extend the pact until Sept 5.

The Illinois plant produces four models, the Eclipse, Eclipse Spyder, Galant and Endeavor. In 2004, the plant laid off 1,200 workers as part of a worldwide plan that Tokyo-based parent company Mitsubishi Motors Corp called its last chance to survive. Union members also went on a one-day strike there in 2001.

Mitsubishi's US sales are down 22 percent this year, according to figures compiled by Autodata Corp. Sales fell 29 percent in August.