GM Workers at Van Nuys Clash Over Work Rules

Workers from the General Motors plant in Van Nuys clashed briefly Tuesday as part of an ongoing labor dispute over new Japanese-style work rule changes being introduced at the plant next month.

The incident occurred in the union assembly hall of Local 645, where President Peter Z. Beltran and two other UAW officials called a news conference to publicize their lawsuit seeking to halt implementation of the so-called team concept.

The event was disrupted, however, by more than 300 union members who carried signs, shouted their support for the new system and heckled the union leaders. The meeting was broken up with a brief scuffle as Beltran grabbed a worker who was shouting at the union leader: “You’re no one, you have no control.” Other union officials broke up the fight, and Beltran left the room.

Beltran is up for reelection as union president on June 2. He is opposed by former union local shop chairman Jerry Shrieves, a team concept supporter who led the group disrupting Beltran’s news conference.

Beltran’s lawsuit charges that GM has reneged on a promise to make a long-term commitment to keep the Van Nuys plant open in exchange for worker support for the team-concept agreement. The pact was narrowly passed by 4,500 rank-and-file workers last May.

GM contends that it met its obligations when the Van Nuys plant was spared from a sweeping round of plant closings last year.

Beltran said the team concept is an excuse for speeding up the assembly line. But supporters, including GM management, say that putting workers in small groups and giving them more say in how cars are made will result in better-made automobiles.