LORDSTOWN Union, GM agree on plans for plant

The next step is sending the new car proposal to the GM board of directors.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
LORDSTOWN -- General Motors and the union at the Lordstown Assembly Plant have reached an agreement on engineering specifications and other issues related to a new car model proposed for the plant.
The agreement allows the proposal, which includes a $500 million plant remodeling, to be sent to the GM board of directors, said John Mohan, shop chairman of United Auto Workers Local 1112.
Mohan said in a flier to union members this week that board approval is all that is needed to bring the new car to Lordstown.
Uncertain future: The plant's future is uncertain because GM has said it intends to build the Chevrolet Cavalier and Pontiac Sunfire there only until 2004.
The agreement, which Mohan signed Tuesday, sets benchmark targets for the remodeled plant. It includes quality standards and the number of vehicles to be produced per hour, as well as production schedules and engineering specifications.
Mohan said GM intends to run the new car at faster line speeds than it previously indicated, which would mean more employees than it originally planned.
Both company and union officials have said the remodeled plant would need fewer workers than it does now because of increased automation and better engineering of the car. No official estimates have been released.
The plant has about 4,300 hourly workers, compared with 7,500 in 1994 when the plant last received a major upgrade.
This is the second bit of promising news for the plant this year.
The union said in January that GM was reassigning engineering experts to the plant from Detroit. These people have previous experience in preparing plants for new models.
Plant and union officials had hoped that a new model would be approved last year, but new top management at GM stopped the project to take a closer look.
GM says it loses money on all its small cars but needs them to make federal mileage requirements for its fleet and to provide an entry-level vehicle for customers. GM officials want its new small cars, however, to make money.
In other news, the union said that overtime work on Saturdays is continuing, even though other GM plants around the country are slowing line speeds and laying off workers.
Upcoming overtime is scheduled on April 13 and 20 and May 4 and 11.
shilling@vindy.com