UAW chief defends Navistar strike

By James B. Kelleher

DETROIT (Reuters) - United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger on Tuesday defended his union's strike against Navistar International Corp NAVZ.PK, saying the month-old walkout was hurting the truck- and engine-maker more than the Warrenville, Illinois-based company was admitting.

"I think it's more effective than you might realize," Gettelfinger told the Reuters Auto Summit in Detroit.

Asked to explain the timing of the strike, which comes in the middle of a sharp downturn in truck and engine orders that Navistar claims has allowed it to meet orders by simply moving production to non-union plants in the United States and Mexico, Gettelfinger said: "There is never a right time for a strike."

He added: "But we were put in that position by the company ... So we made a decision, that ultimately rests with me, that we were going to shut them down."

The UAW went out on strike against Navistar on October 23, almost three weeks after a contract covering about 3,700 workers expired, citing what it characterized as unfair labor practices at International Truck and Engine unit, the company's major operating unit.

Hours before the strike announcement, the UAW filed a complaint against Navistar with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming that the company had violated the law by shutting down a UAW-represented assembly plant in Springfield, Ohio, and was withholding information in negotiations.

Navistar had announced in September that it would shift production of medium-duty trucks from Springfield to two non-union plants until a contract was ratified in order to satisfy orders from customers.

The two sides are scheduled to return to the bargaining table on Monday for the first time since the strike began.

On Monday, Dan Ustian, Navistar's chairman and chief executive officer, told the Reuters Auto Summit he was neither optimistic nor pessimistic about the talks "because it's difficult to determine why we're on strike in the first place."

Ustian said he believed the strike was a mistake made by a union distracted by its efforts this fall to sign complicated new contracts with the three Detroit automakers. He said he would know very quickly if the restarted talks with the UAW were likely to result in a deal -- a sentiment echoed on Tuesday by Gettelfinger.

Gettelfinger said the UAW hadn't decided whether he would personally get involved in the talks with Navistar.

"We'll get a sense of the tone of the meeting," he told Reuters, "and then we'll go from there."

(Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)