GM workers in Fort Wayne barely ratify pact

Only 50.7 percent of union workers at General Motors Corp.’s Fort Wayne pickup truck assembly plant ratified the tentative United Auto Workers contract, according to The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne.

Approximately 90 percent of eligible workers voted on the national contract. The plant has roughly 3,000 workers; 2,860 are hourly.

The contract appears to provide considerable job security for the plant’s workers. It says the plant will assemble Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups four more years, then will continue with a new generation of the trucks beginning in 2012.

The UAW has until Oct. 10 vote on the contract. Industry observers expect it to win approval.