NUMMI workers ratify severance deal

FREMONT, Calif., March 18 (UPI) -- United Auto Workers Local 2244 in Fremont, Calif., voted to approve a severance package with reluctance, as it signals an end to jobs, union leaders said.

The $281 million severance deal that covers 3,700 workers at the NUMMI car factory will pay an average of $54,000 per worker, but it pays 300 disabled workers only $21,175, the San Jose Mercury News reported Thursday.

"The tentative agreement has been ratified," UAW bargaining committee Javier Contreras said.

Ninety percent of the union members voted for the agreement that union president Sergio Santos said "will never replace the loss of our jobs."

NUMMI -- New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. -- is a factory jointly run by General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. It is scheduled to close April 1, which gave union members no choice on the severance deal, Contreras said.

Some were angered that those out on disability would receive a smaller severance, which Toyota initially called a "retention package" that was based on days at work, meaning workers not physically at the plant would receive less.

"To do this to people just because they were hurt is insensitive," said Sal Gomez, a NUMMI worker from Oakland, Calif.