GM expects UAW contract to cut costs $5 billion by 2011

General Motors says its new contract with the United Auto Workers will help cut its annual U.S. labor costs by $5 billion between now and 2011. The four-year pact shifts the obligation for about $46.7 billion in retired UAW worker healthcare from the company to the union, with the company pouring about $26.5 billion into a trust fund run by the union. Senior executives of GM touted the benefits of the labor contract and other cost reductions the company has implemented since a disastrous 2005 in which it lost more than $10 billion. Ford Motor Co., which posted a $12.6 billion loss for 2006, reached a similar contract agreement with the UAW following the GM contract resolution.