SAGINAW, MI – Nearly 200 Nexteer Automotive employees are set to be laid off this week, while UAW Local 699 agreed to a 90-day contract extension with the company, according to a social media post by the union local. The current contract is set to expire Friday, March 20.

In a March 13 Facebook post, Local 699 leaders state the latest layoff figure communicated from management to the union was 195 jobs, effective Monday, March 16.

“The loss of work and the reduction of the hourly workforce was something that this leadership team inherited when we took office. This administration has done everything we could to create and preserve as many jobs as possible,” the post reads. "It may not seem like we have been successful as there have been so many of our brothers and sisters impacted, but I can assure you, if it were not for the measures taken by your leadership, there would have been Permanent Layoffs much sooner and the numbers of those impacted would have been far greater.”

A union meeting scheduled for Sunday was canceled along with all meetings, conferences, and classes through April 16 over the threat of coronavirus, according to UAW Local 699 President Tom Hurst.

The post notes the local president, executive officers, committees, and several organizations including the United Way have been offering food trucks, home goods, job fairs, resume assistance and workshops, unemployment resources and low to no interest loans to aid employees.

“Your Union is committed to continuing these efforts as long as possible to minimize these hardships for anyone impacted,” the post notes. “We will get through this together and things will begin to turn around for the better.”

Negotiations on the next collective bargaining agreement began Jan. 21, with the decision made to continue the bargaining process that necessitates a temporary 90-day extension of the current agreement “with the belief that the full 90-day period will not be needed and that we will have a Tentative Agreement to present to the Membership,” per the post.

The union’s current five-year contract with the steering maker was due to expire on Friday.

Nexteer, UAW Local 699 negotiating as contract nears March expiration date

Nexteer workers represented by UAW Local 699 ratified their current five-year contract in December 2015, the same month they walked off the job and onto the picket line. The UAW’s 2015 strike against Nexteer lasted for less than 24 hours before the two parties reached a second tentative agreement. Workers rejected the first proposed contract by a landslide.

Nexteer is a global automotive steering company that, as of 2015, employed about 12,000, including more than 4,800 in Saginaw County at its sprawling facility along Interstate 75 in Buena Vista Township. At the time, UAW Local 699 represented about 3,350 Nexteer workers in Saginaw County and retirees. Formerly Delphi Saginaw Steering Systems, Nexteer was sold in 2010 to China-based Pacific Century Motors.

The post argues the negotiations “could very well be one of the most difficult that Local 699 has faced thus far” and points out they must prepare for “situations that may not exist currently but quite possibly could in the future.”

“The most important thing you can do right now to help in the fight for enhanced employment, economic security, improved Benefits and better working conditions, is to prevent Management from using you against your Bargaining Team or one another,” the post reads.