NORMAL - Continued financial problems at Normal's Mitsubishi Motors North America plant may mean union workers will not see an expected boost on their paychecks this spring.

Mitsubishi management last week asked its union to consider a lump-sum payment instead of a previously agreed-upon $4.03 hourly wage restoration planned for April, according to news posted on United Auto Workers Local 2488's Web site.

The notice says the proposal calls for associates to be given a single payment that would be the equivalent of wage restorations earned from April 7 to Aug. 28. For an employee working a 40-hour week, the payment would equal nearly $3,400.

UAW Local 2488 members approved wage and benefit cuts in September 2006 in exchange for a promise of no involuntary layoffs though August - when the union contract also expires - and a commitment to redesign the Galant for 2009.

Union President Ralph Timan declined comment Thursday. MMNA spokesman Dan Irvin also said he would not comment on the discussions.

According to the Web site, Timan and bargaining chairman Fred Morissette attended a business meeting in Detroit where management asked the union to consider foregoing the expected wages.

"At this meeting it was explained that Mitsubishi had not yet reached their financial objective at the Normal facility during the 2007 fiscal year. Projections indicated that it would not be possible for Mitsubishi to reach their goal for the fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2008," the online posting said.

The union's bargaining committee decided it could not discuss the verbal proposal without any written details or guarantees, but it posted the information online to keep members informed.

The 2006 wage cut was narrowly approved by a vote of 663-637. Before the cuts, the average production worker earned about $50,000 annually, while the average maintenance worker earned about $60,000.

Prior to that, MMNA had struggled with a decline in sales and the financial problems of its parent company, Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Motors Corp. The Normal plant sold about 124,000 vehicles in 2005, after peaking at more than 345,000 three years earlier. The fading sales led to the layoff of nearly 1,200 workers in 2004 when the plant eliminated its second shift.

But the promise to redesign the Galant, the company's popular family sedan, was a light in the darkness. It is currently in production at the plant.

Since the vote, MMNA has already seen the beginnings of turn-around, despite the national woes in the industry. The company sold 128,993 vehicles in 2007, a nearly 9 percent increase from the 118,558 sold the previous year and the company's best sales report since 2004.