Union, GM officials resume talks at Fairfax plant

Officials with United Auto Workers Local 31 and General Motors Corp. resumed negotiations around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at GM's Fairfax Assembly plant, Local 31 President Jeff Manning said.

The talks concluded before 5 p.m. Tuesday, a union spokeswoman said. Manning said talks are expected to resume Wednesday morning, but he didn't know what time.

The two sides are trying to work out terms of a local contract to replace one that expired in September. Although a national contract between GM and the UAW concerns issues such as wages and benefits, the local contract covers issues specific to the Fairfax plant.

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Local 31's roughly 2,600 members went on strike at 9 a.m. Monday. The union said on its Web site that it had no alternative but to strike after no progress was made all weekend. The site listed its main issue of contention as management not allowing seniority to play a role in job placement and shift preference. Other sticking points in the local contract negotiations include lack of in-plant medical coverage and concern about various jobs at the plant being outsourced to contractors and vendors.

The talks were still under way around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, a union spokeswoman said.

The Fairfax Assembly Plant ranks No. 15 on the Kansas City Business Journal's list area private-sector employers, with 2,700 employees. The plant makes the Chevy Malibu and Saturn Aura, and hybrid versions of each.