GM Reportedly Near Deal With UAW

By Tom Krisher and Ken Thomas

DETROIT -- General Motors (GM) and the United Auto Workers were getting close to an agreement on concessions, a person briefed on the negotiations said Tuesday, just hours before GM and Chrysler must submit a restructuring plan to the Treasury Department to justify its federal loans.

Details of the deal were not available. Negotiations went all night Monday and into Tuesday, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan has yet to be submitted.

Both GM and Chrysler were racing to finish restructuring plans to present to the federal government, but final deals with debt holders and union workers may not come until after Tuesday's government-imposed deadline passes, according to others who also were briefed on the situation.

The people briefed on the talks did not want to be identified because the negotiations are private.

GM scheduled a news conference for 6:30 p.m. EST to discuss its restructuring plans, and Chrysler planned to hold a conference call with reporters at 5 p.m.

The status of Chrysler's talks was unknown.

GM on Tuesday received the last $4 billion of the $13.4 billion it was promised by the Treasury Department, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters aboard Air Force One. Chrysler has received $4 billion.

The plans are supposed to outline how the automakers intend to again become viable and repay the government loans. Ford (F), which borrowed billions from private sources before credit markets tightened, has said it can make it through 2009 without government help.

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