EAST SYRACUSE -- Voting gets underway today for members of UAW Local 624 who work at the New Process Gear plant. Magna International, which owns the plant, was set to begin taking steps to shut it down after workers rejected a contract earlier this year.
The proposed contract calls for major concessions. Under terms of the contract, the plant must break even or at least come close to that by July. It would also cut wages from just over $20 per hour to $16. That's less severe than the original proposal rejected by workers earlier this year. That contract would have cut wages to just $13 an hour.
Even if the plant reaches its target of breaking even, and workers approve the deal, Magna expects to cut the 1,400 member workforce to about half.
Voting is scheduled to take place Monday and Tuesday.
