GM plant in Ohio withdraws strike threat

United Auto Workers Local 549 was set to go on strike Thursday morning but has withdrawn that deadline and is continuing negotiations to reach a local contract, spokesman Dan Flores said.

A message seeking comment was left with UAW Local 549 President Pam Drake.

Also Wednesday, GM notified striking workers at its Delta Township assembly plant near Lansing that they are no longer eligible for health care or life insurance benefits from the automaker.

"GM is well within our contractual rights to discontinue their benefits for the rest of their strike," the company said in a statement.

Workers at the Delta Township plant, which makes GM's popular Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook crossovers, have been on strike since April 17. The company is allowed to discontinue benefits on the first day of the month following the start of the strike, so it could have canceled the benefits as early as May 1.

A UAW local at another plant in Kansas City, Kan., which makes the popular Chevrolet Malibu midsize sedan has been on strike since May 5, so GM could cancel benefits at that plant as early as June 1.

This marks the first time GM has canceled striking workers' health and life insurance benefits since a 47-day strike in Flint halted production nationwide in 1998.

The United Auto Workers union is picking up the tab for workers' health benefits, according to a union official at Local 602 in Lansing. The UAW is also paying workers $200 per week in strike pay.

Industry analysts have speculated that the plants are striking to put pressure on GM to get more involved in an 80-day strike by the UAW against American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc., a major supplier to GM. But the UAW has insisted that the strikes are over local issues.