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DETROIT, United States (AFP) ― A landmark deal which could help the Big Three US automakers narrow their labor cost gap with Asian competitors faced opposition Thursday among the union's rank-and-file workers ahead of a crucial ratification vote expected next week.

Leaders of the United Auto Workers union expressed confidence that they would receive the votes necessary to approve a contract negotiated with General Motors Wednesday after a two-day strike.

That agreement will then be used as a framework for its negotiations with Ford Motors Co. and Chrysler LLC.

But three former UAW executive board members have spoken out against the contract and group of union dissidents is waging an Internet campaign urging members to vote against the plan to transfer the administration of retiree health care benefits to the union.

At issue is whether General Motors will provide sufficient funds to ensure that the union-run retiree voluntary employee beneficiary association (VEBA) is able to pay benefits.

While details of the deal are being withheld pending union ratification, UAW president Ron Gettelfinger said Wednesday that GM would provide a large enough cash infusion to ensure the trust can pay out benefits for the next 80 years.

But the UAW has been burnt by VEBAs in the past: a 33 million dollar fund negotiated in 1998 with Caterpillar Corp collapsed in 2004, leaving retirees to pick up the cost of health insurance if they weren't covered by federal Medicare plans.

Greg Shotwell, founder of the dissident union group Soldiers of Solidarity, which has battled UAW leaders and Delphi Corp.'s management since 2005, said the fact that GM shares jumped more than nine percent on news of the contract should make workers wary of the agreement.

"The rush to ratify is a sure sign that the 'Concession Caucus' doesn't want members to examine the contract too closely or debate it among themselves before they cast a vote," Shotwell said, referring to the UAW leadership's Union Caucus.

"Hence the slogan, 'Vote no until you know the whole truth,'" said Shotwell, who works at a GM warehouse in Lansing, Michigan.

"Don't imagine that GM will pull up to Solidarity House (the UAW headquarters) with a Brinks truck and pile cash into wheel barrows for the mystic VEBA," he told AFP.

"As VEBA fund managers the UAW joins the sharks and parasites in the insurance industry and will assume GM's role as the gatekeeper -- the collector of tolls which will be automatically deducted from your pension, or extracted in co-pays," he added.

UAW spokesman Roger Kerson did not return calls asking for comment on the Caterpillar VEBA.

Gettelfinger, however, said Wednesday he is looking forward to the debate.

"We have a VEBA in place. I think our retirees will be exceptionally pleased with this contract," he said during the news conference at which he called an end to the union's first nationwide walkout against GM since 1970.

Wall Street hailed the deal which will transfer a ballooning future liability currently estimated at more than 50 billion dollars off GM's books.

"While the devil will be in the detail, our first reaction is that GM captured a much broader set of concessions than we previously anticipated," JP Morgan analyst Himanshu Patel said in a report.

The health care agreement is expected to relieve GM of 14 billion dollars of retiree health care obligations if GM pays the UAW the equivalent of 70 percent of its current long term obligations in the deal, as is widely expected, Deutsche Bank analyst Rod Lache wrote in a research report.

While GM would take a huge hit to fund the deal, it would then improve the company's free cash flow by 2.7 to 2.8 billion dollars a year and cut labor costs by 18 to 19 dollars an hour, he estimated.

GM's US labor costs are currently nearly 30 dollars an hour above the level at non-unionized US plants run by foreign rivals like Toyota Motor. When the gun sounded on Detroit's 59-14 victory over Cleveland in the 1957 championship game, hundreds of fans stormed the field and carried linebacker and captain Joe Schmidt and quarterback Tobin Rote off on their shoulders.

One of those fans became a famous collegiate head coach.

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A week later, 18-year-old Riverview High senior Bill McCartney was delighted to open Sports Illustrated and see himself -- identified by his varsity jacket -- in the crowd carrying Schmidt off the field.

"My high school band was invited to play at the game, and the director asked me if I would like to come along, so I got in without a ticket and stood on the field," said McCartney, the former University of Colorado football coach and founder of the Promise Keepers.

"I was a linebacker, and Joe Schmidt was my hero, so I immediately ran to him at the end of that unforgettable game. It was such a thrill to be there on the field with Schmidt and later showing everyone the Sports Illustrated photo."

After years of planning, the Nordstrom family came to town Wednesday to open its second full-line Michigan store at Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi.

Four great-grandsons of the Seattle-based company's founder attended a $100-a-ticket charity gala. The Wednesday evening event, which attracted 1,300 shoppers, benefits the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Links Inc., a 61-year-old organization that helps women and children worldwide.

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The store officially opens to the public at 10 a.m. on Friday.

"The family tradition is that every store we open it is really our entire team, all hands on deck," said President Blake Nordstrom.

Shoppers familiar with the Nordstrom at the Somerset Collection in Troy will find many differences including two floors instead of three, a host of new merchandise and updated décor.

Gala attendees like Maureen D'Avanco of Bloomfield Hills were the first shoppers at the 165,000-square-foot store. D'Avanco bought some eyelashes from Japanese cosmetics line Shu Uemura.

"I have to say this store looks better than the Somerset store. This is up a notch," she said.

And Peggy Uzzle of West Bloomfield is thrilled to have one of the stores in Novi. "Now we don't have to go to Somerset to shop at Nordstrom," she said.

Nordstrom Inc., like many other retailers opening stores in metro Detroit, understands that the local economy, while struggling with high unemployment and a sputtering real estate market, is still vibrant.

"Those economic issues are real, but overall we are encouraged by the things in our control," Blake Nordstrom said. "It's not like we are coming brand new in the market. We do have some history now with Troy, and we have been very pleased with that store and the support and loyalty of our customers."

Blake Nordstrom said the store had 5,000 applications for 400 positions. He said the company was impressed with the quality of local workers.

"This is, in our opinion, a long-term investment. These stores you don't just open on a dime," he said.

The trade area for Twelve Oaks Mall includes 1.56 million residents with an anticipated growth of 7% in the next five years west of I-275, according to Taubman Centers Inc., the Bloomfield Hills-based real estate investment trust that owns the mall.

The average household income is $87,481, and the average age is 38. Plus, there are nearly 180,000 households in the trade area with average incomes of more than $100,000.

And with the addition of the upscale Nordstrom store and the wing of 31 specialty stores, the 30-year-old mall's draw should be much greater, said David Boxer, vice president of market research for Taubman Centers.

The mall's upgrades include landscaping, elevators, lighting, furniture, carpeting and signage. Macy's also has been expanding its store by 60,000 square feet for a total of 300,000 square feet. The store remains open and the renovation should be complete by next fall.

Twelve Oaks also could keep more Novi shoppers from driving to Troy's Somerset Collection. Somerset has had the only full-line Nordstrom store until now. Next April, Nordstrom plans to open its third full-line store at the Mall at Partridge Creek in Clinton Township.

Jeff Green, president and CEO of retail market research firm Jeff Green Partners in Mill Valley, Calif., said the Twelve Oaks Mall expansion means the mall will keep more Novi area shoppers from shopping at Somerset.

"The problem is some of the people in their trade area have been leaking into the Somerset trade area. They are hoping to stem some of that leakage," Green said. "Somerset will keep the luxury niche."

But the bottom line, Green said, is that metro Detroit has less retail square footage per capita than other metro areas. So the area can support the expanded Twelve Oaks and the Mall at Partridge Creek, he said.

"I hear over and over from retailers that they do so much better in Detroit than they thought. I think it is because of the perception of Detroit as blue collar," Green said. "No one understands the affluence that is in the area."

Nordstrom will operate 100 full-line stores once the Novi location opens Friday. It operates a total of 158 stores in 27 states, including Nordstrom Rack.

The retailer had annual sales of $8.6 billion in 2006, a 10.8% increase. And profits rose 23% last year to $678 million.

Daniel Jones, the general manager of Twelve Oaks Mall, said he's been surprised at the excitement shoppers have for Nordstrom.

"Over the five years I've been here, without question the most asked for department store has been Nordstrom," Jones said. "This market really stepped up and said if you are going to do something at Twelve Oaks, this is what we would love to have."

On Friday, the first 450 shoppers through the new valet entrance at the Nordstrom wing will be treated to free gift bags of products from Twelve Oaks stores. At 8:30 a.m., the mall hosts a free breakfast and cosmetic demos. At 10 a.m., the Nordstrom store and 27 of the 31 specialty stores in the new wing officially will open. Walker Miller Energy Services is using its blend of traditional and sustainable methods to grow exponentially -- earning it a hot spot on the inaugural Inc. 5,000 list. The company, founded in 2000, earned $13.5 million in 2006, with a three-year revenue growth rate of 48.7 percent.

An energy consulting company, Walker Miller was initially created to replace equipment used in energy transmission and distribution. At first, the company simply replaced traditional equipment with newer versions of the same technology. Then a niche was discovered and the company expanded its purview.

"We try to talk with utility companies about newer products that will meet their functional needs but are more environmentally friendly," says co-founder Carla Walker Miller. "We encourage renewable and sustainable products be used for the equipment replacement."

The shift has served the company well. It has grown from two to six employees, with additional contract employees and two more hires are currently underway.

Walker Miller not only works with utilities, but also with non-profit, commercial and industrial customers. But there are inherent challenges. "Those customers are concerned about their core business. They are not that concerned with climate change, environmental issues or energy efficiency," says Walker Miller.

The company's energy management experts perform consulting studies with the goal of convincing clients that using energy efficient equipment will positively impact the company's bottom line. "Almost any construction project should have an energy efficient component," says Walker Miller. The recommendations can include something as simple as the installation of skylights and the use of solar power during peak power usages to more complicated retrofits such as the installation of geothermal heating and cooling systems.

Walker Miller is passionate about her firm's work. "Energy is everyone's issue now," she says. "Some of us recognize that and some of us don't, but it's an issue for everyone." Two of Walker Miller's non-profit clients have been the Shrine of the Black Madonna and LIFT Women's Resource Center.