UAW taps former GM exec on merger talks

DETROIT, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Former General Motors Corp. executive Steve Girsky has been hired by the United Auto Workers union to advise it on automaker merger talks, sources say.

Girsky, a former assistant to GM Chairman Rick Wagoner, will directly assist UAW President Ron Gettelfinger in helping him sort out and analyze still-evolving discussions between GM and Chrysler LLC owner Cerberus Capital Management on a possible merger deal, The Wall Street Journal quoted unnamed sources as saying.

Girsky currently is president of Centerbridge Industrial Partners in New York.

Gettelfinger has not been supportive of a merger thus far, saying he "still needs to be convinced" it is a good idea, since it likely will lead to thousands more job layoffs, the Journal said.