LORDSTOWN GM plant to reduce line speed

Retirements allow the plant to cut its hourly work force without layoffs.
LORDSTOWN -- A reduction in the speed of the assembly line at the Lordstown Assembly Plant will reduce employment by 260 jobs.
Tom Mock, a spokesman for the General Motors Corp. plant, said employment will be reduced through attrition and there will be no layoffs.
The speed of the assembly line is to be cut 12 percent next month so it will be producing 70 cars an hour.
The reduction will be made in January as workers enter three weeks of training on how to produce the new Chevrolet Cobalt. GM is reducing the line speed based on sales projections for the new car and the new jobs being set up on the line, Mock said.
Retiring workers
The plant had 155 hourly workers retire in October after the United Auto Workers agreed to a new national labor contract. Several retired in November, and several more are expected to retire this month, Mock said. More retirements are expected in January with the new year, he said.
GM has been cutting the work force as workers retire to make the plant more efficient. The plant has about 4,000 hourly workers, down about 500 over the past three years.
GM hasn't announced how many workers will be needed to produce the Cobalt, although it has said new models typically need fewer workers because of improved engineering.
The plant will begin making test models early next year, with the cars arriving in dealer showrooms next fall. GM is spending more than $500 million to upgrade the plant and an adjacent fabrication plant to prepare for the Cobalt and Pontiac Pursuit, which will be sold only in Canada.
The new models are replacing the Chevrolet Cavalier and Pontiac Sunfire.