Reply #4: Crunch time looms for GM, Chrysler restructuring [View All]

DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – United Auto Workers' officials will gather on Tuesday to hear how many more U.S. factory jobs GM will cut as the embattled automaker enters what could be its last week outside bankruptcy.

Union officials representing 54,000 General Motors Corp workers are scheduled to meet in Detroit to prepare for a quick ratification vote on a cost-cutting labor deal negotiated last week. The union aims to complete those votes by Thursday.

Approval of the contract, which would change payment terms on $20 billion owed to a UAW trust fund, represents one of the hurdles for GM to clear before a June 1 deadline set by the Obama administration.

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GM will also learn on Wednesday how much of its $27 billion in bond debt was tendered in exchange for shares. GM has set a target of slashing 90 percent of its bond debt, a goal analysts see as unreachable.

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Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez could rule as early as Wednesday on whether Chrysler will be allowed to sell its most valuable assets to a new company that would be under the operational control of Italy's Fiat SpA.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090526/bs_nm/us_autos