DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said on Thursday he was confident the automaker will win the concessions it needs from the United Auto Workers union to meet the restructuring terms dictated by the $13.4 billion federal bailout.
"I'm confident that we'll be able to get the kinds of changes we'll need," Wagoner told NBC's Matt Lauer in an interview for the "Today" show broadcast live from Detroit.
GM and UAW officials are to meet on Monday in talks aimed at key changes in the union's 2007 contract.
GM has received $4 billion from the U.S. Treasury and has been promised another $9.4 billion from a federal aid package that also mandates that it win sweeping concessions from bond holders and the UAW.
Under the terms of the bailout approved by the Bush administration, GM must bring its own hourly wage costs in line with those of Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> and other Japanese automakers that operate nonunion factories in the United States.
UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, who also appeared on the "Today" show has disputed some estimates that put the hourly compensation gap between Detroit automakers and the Japanese at $10 per hour or more.
In response to a question from Lauer, Wagoner also said that the $10-per-hour wage gap estimate "may be a little bit on the high side."
A clause buried in the loan agreement between the Treasury Department and GM that was disclosed in a regulatory filing on Wednesday would prohibit a strike or other work stoppage by the UAW as long as the company was receiving aid.
But the union has a "no strike" clause in its national contract, which remains in force as talks on concessions get under way.
Violation of terms could prompt the government to recall the loan.
Wagoner, who has led GM since 2000, said he never considered resigning during the company's recent crisis despite some sharp criticism of his leadership of the automaker during the congressional debate on the bailout.
"I didn't," he said, "because I didn't think that would help the bailout move forward."
Wagoner also repeated that GM was focused on its own restructuring and had put aside consideration of a merger with smaller rival Chrysler LLC, which received a $4 billion federal loan of its own.
"I think at this point it's been set aside," Wagoner said of the merger talks. "Our priority now is GM and what we can do in this smaller U.S. market."
U.S. auto sales dropped 18 percent in 2008, pushing both GM and Chrysler to the brink of collapse. Ford Motor Co
(Reporting by Kevin Krolicki; Editing by Maureen Bavdek and Andre Grenon)
