GM wants 10-hour days at Lordstown without OT

LORDSTOWN —  General Motors wants to return to 10-hour shifts and use more nonunion workers at its Lordstown complex, a news report said.

Automotive News reported this week on some contract proposals that had not previously been known.

One of them is installing 10-hour work days with no overtime.

The report doesn’t go into any details, but 10-hour shifts were eliminated at Lordstown in 1998. At that time, workers were on the job four days a week.

The move to a five-day, eight-hour schedule saved money because the union contract required workers to receive premium pay for the longer shifts. Workers were paid for 44 hours if they worked during the week and 48 hours if they worked partly on weekends.

Now, workers now are on the job Monday through Friday. To boost production, however, some extra shifts have been scheduled on Saturday with overtime.

Also, the plant recently went to nine-hour shifts each weekday, which includes one hour of overtime.

GM also wants to cut costs with increased use of nonunion workers. United Auto Workers Local 1112 has said previously that GM wants to move nonskilled maintenance work, such as janitorial services, out of the union.