DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp added $18 million to its offer to American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings in the final hours of negotiations between the supplier and its major union late Friday, a United Auto Workers official said on Sunday.
Adrian King, president of UAW Local 235, which represents American Axle workers in Detroit, said GM's total offer aimed at brokering a settlement to end a three-month-long strike stood at $218 million.
"I know you heard $200 (million), but they came in with $18 million to fund (supplemental unemployment)," King told reporters after a meeting with union workers to brief them on the contract. "That came in at the last hour of UAW bargaining."
He added: "That's $218 million that GM has put into this, so there's a lot of major players hoping we can bring this thing to closure."
American Axle and the UAW reached a tentative contract agreement late Friday. UAW workers in Detroit will vote on whether to ratify the cost-cutting contract on Monday.
Detroit-based American Axle has said it is under no obligation to repay the funds offered by GM.
(Reporting by Kevin Krolicki, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)
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