Automaker General Motors announced recently that they would begin importing small cars from China in 2011, and close 16 US factories. The United Auto Workers union has hotly contested this decision, saying that could cost the United States up to 21,000 factory jobs, another hardship on the already hard-hit US job market. The UAW says they plan to up the intensity of talks with GM this week, and has asked union members to contact President Barack Obama in protest. According to GM, auto sales and manufacturing in the US will remain approximately the same even with imports from China. The June 1st concession deadline is rapidly approaching, but the two sides do not seem closer to a compromise as of yet.
See "UAW steps up opposition to GM plan to import cars", Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, May 17, 2009