Citing high costs and shrinking market share, General Motors Corp. expects to close more U.S. assembly and component plants over the next few years, slashing at least 25,000 manufacturing jobs. GM had been in intense discussions with the United Auto Workers union about ways to reduce the company's massive health-care costs, though it was not certain an agreement would be reached. Equally, the union has stressed that GM will not win any worker concessions in the next rounds of labor negotiations.
See "GM To Idle More Plants, Slash 25, 000 Jobs", Reuters, The New York Times, June 7, 2005