Replacement Workers

Cynthia Vega reports

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ARLINGTON — On Monday, for the third consecutive day, union workers at the Lear Corporation plant in Arlington watched busloads of temporary workers pull up to fill their shifts.

Mel Stephens, a spokesman for the General Motors subcontractor, denied that United Auto Workers members at Lear had been locked out. He said the workers were "disruptive" and refused to meet normal production standards after they returned last week from a seven-week shutdown that coincided with a similar furlough at GM.

The union claims that 627 workers were told to go home on Saturday and stay there until further notice. But pickets were on hand Monday morning as the first buses of replacement workers arrived.

The union workers members had been working without a contract; the previous agreement expired June 20.

"It's impacting families critically," said UAW Local 129 chairman Maverick Gayden. "They just came off a seven-week layoff and now to have to come and face this with a pending layoff in August as well... there's a lot of uncertainty."

Stephens said Lear had never had a work stoppage of any kind during the company's 10 years in Arlington making seats for GM vehicles. He said he was confident Lear and the UAW could work out terms of a new contract.

The situation is complicated by the fact that Michigan-based Lear filed for bankruptcy protection last week. The company promised to have a reorganization plan ready within 60 days, but it remains to be seen how the union workers will fit into that picture.

Union members say they have already offered to accept a five-year contract that cuts wages and vacation time and increases out-of-pocket costs for medical care.

The 2,400 workers at the massive General Motors assembly plant nearby returned to work Monday morning following a two-month shutdown aimed at reducing GM’s inventory of full-size SUVs. The Arlington plant is GM's only full-size SUV factory, and builds Chevrolet Tahoes, GMC Yukons and Cadillac Escalades.

Chris Lee, a GM production spokesman, said the manufacturer didn't expect any disruptions as a result of the Lear labor issues "for the time being."

Dallas Morning News staff writer Terry Box contributed to this report.

E-mail cvega@wfaa.com