CAW, GM wage talks continue

TORONTO, May 17 (UPI) -- Negotiators for General Motors and the Canadian Auto Workers union met Sunday well past a deadline for an agreement on cost reductions, observers said.

The two sides were in Toronto trying to forge a deal on ways to meet the government's demands to bring GM's wage costs into line with Toyota's Canadian operations and thus qualify for taxpayer assistance, Canwest News Service reported.

"Talks are still going on," CAW spokesperson Shannon Devine told the news service Sunday morning. "They're trying to wrap things up as soon as possible."

CAW president Ken Lewenza told reporters Friday that GM was being "overzealous" and its demands and warned that the two sides weren't close to an agreement.

"General Motors has indicated that the sacrifices made by Chrysler workers duplicated by General Motors is not enough," Canwest quoted him saying just hours before a midnight Friday deadline set by the federal and provincial governments.