WASHINGTON (AP) — With time growing short, the $14 billion auto industry bailout bill stalled in the Senate on Thursday as Republicans demanded upfront concessions from the United Auto Workers as the price for their support.
UAW and auto industry officials were in talks with key Republicans and Democrats at the Capitol, although it wasn’t clear what, if any, givebacks the union was willing to discuss.
The developments unfolded after Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky joined other GOP lawmakers in announcing his opposition to a White House-backed bill that was approved by the House on Wednesday. He called for an alternative that would reduce the wages and benefits of the Big Three automakers to bring them in line with those paid by Japanese carmakers Nissan, Toyota and Honda.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the sponsor of that proposal, was in closed-door meetings with UAW officials and Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, the Banking Committee chairman, to see if it could be modified to win the support of Democrats, who count labor unions among their strongest political allies.
Auto industry officials also were in on the high-stakes talks, which unfolded against a backdrop of stunning job losses and continuing economic turmoil. New claims for unemployment benefits rose by more than a half-million for the week ending last Saturday.
A growing number of Republicans and Democrats were turning against the House-passed bill — itself the product of hard-fought negotiations between the Bush White House and congressional Democrats — despite urgent entreaties from both President George W. Bush and President-elect Barack Obama for quick action to spare the economy the added pain of a potential automaker collapse.
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