AMC <AMO> SAYS STEPS TAKEN AFTER UAW TALKS FAIL
American Motors Corp said it will take
steps to build a proposed new jeep vehicle at an unspecified
"alternative location" after the weekend breakdown of talks
with the United Automobile Workers union on a concessionary
contract covering workers at AMC's Wisconsin operations.
    AMC spokesman Lloyd Northard told Reuters that the company
will not build its new Jeep ZJ sports utility vehicle at its
Kenosha, Wisc., assembly plant as a result of the talks'
failure.
    "We sincerely regret this outcome, but the responsibility
for it rests entirely with the local union bargaining
committees," the company said in a statement.
    "We will, therefore, initiate the actions necessary to
place the new Jeep product in an alternative location rather
than at Kenosha."
    UAW officials said during the weekend they did not regard
the collapse of talks as final after the company's "final"
proposal on a new contract was unanimously rejected by union
bargainers.
    But AMC said the union's rejection of its concessions
package means that plants in Kenosha and Milwaukee will lose
6,500 jobs because the assembly complex in Kenosha "will not be
getting new work" as had been proposed with a new contract.
    "This unfortunate outcome demonstrates the difficulty of
maintaining existing working and bringing new work to existing
U.S. operations," AMC said.
    Asked if the company considered the decision to phase out
the Kenosa plant by 1989 as previously detailed to be final,
Northard said: "If the union came to us and said they would
accept our final proposal, that's another matter."
    But the company charged bargainers for UAW Locals 72 and 75
had reneged on commitments for a new agreement with lower labor
rates made in 1985 when the union locals negotiated a
concessionary agreement covering AMC's Wisconsin operations.
    AMC, which last week reported its first profitable quarter
in two years, said it wanted a contract for the plants with
labor rates and work rules comparable to agreements between the
UAW and Japanese automakers operating in the U.S.
    Wall Street investors reacted to the AMC-UAW impasse by
driving down AMC's stock price. In active trading, AMC was off
3/8 to 3-1/2, a 9.7 pct decline since Friday's close.
   
 Reuter
