Plan Set for White-Collar Pay at Saturn : Lower Salaries, More Incentive Bonus Than at Other GM Units

DETROIT —  White-collar workers in General Motors’s new Saturn subsidiary will receive smaller salaries and more incentive pay than their counterparts in other GM divisions, a company spokesman says.

Plans for the managerial pay scale are incomplete, but the levels will be comparable to the compensation package worked out with the United Auto Workers union for blue-collar employees at the planned Saturn plant in Spring Hill, Tenn, GM spokesman Stan Hall said Wednesday.

The Saturn production workers’ contract includes a salary equal to 80% of hourly pay for UAW members at other GM, Ford Motor and Chrysler plants.

The salary is bolstered by incentive pay based on employee performance and other criteria, Hall said.

Fears Relieved

In another Saturn development, a spokesman for Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander says Alexander has relieved fears of local officials concerned about the effect of the $3.5-billion complex.

Alexander hosted Spring Hill Mayor George Jones and the eight town aldermen in Nashville Tuesday night, and he met with Jones for two hours on Monday after the mayor threatened to lobby against changes necessary in city zoning laws to accommodate the Saturn plant.

Jones also received visits from Safety Commissioner Bill Jones and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Long. The town’s eight aldermen gave final approval of revamping the zoning laws during a meeting Wednesday night.

Jones said he believed town officials and residents in the community of 1,100 were not being considered as the state and GM officials planned for construction of the Saturn plant.

John Parish, a spokesman for Alexander, said the meetings dispelled any concerns on the part of local lawmakers.

GM announced July 30 that it would build the Saturn complex in Spring Hill, about 40 miles south of Nashville. It is expected to employ 6,000 people and create about 14,000 support jobs, GM officials say.