GM to lay off workers at truck plant

GM laid off 767 workers
earlier this week at another plant.

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors Corp. plans to cut a shift at a truck plant in Pontiac due to lagging demand for pickups, potentially laying off hundreds of workers, a spokesman for the automaker said Friday.

GM plans to cut the second shift at the plant in May, spokesman Tom Wickham said. He said the company and the union still were determining how many workers would be affected.

Some second-shift workers could be moved to the first shift to help with staffing, Wickham said. The plant employs about 2,700 hourly workers who make the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups.

A message seeking comment was left for United Auto Workers Local 594 President Gloria Morgan.

The news came just days after GM announced it would permanently lay off 767 workers in December at another Detroit-area plant because of slow sales of its two sedans, the Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS.

U.S. sales of full-size pickups were off 3 percent in the first nine months of this year, according to Autodata Corp., as new home construction plunged to its lowest level in more than a decade. By contrast, GM’s revamped line of full-size pickups was off 2 percent.

“We’re pleased with the new pickups given the difficulty of the segment,” Wickham said. “We’ve been able to hold our own and modestly increase share.”

But he said the shift cut is necessary because GM needs to keep production in line with demand. The plant currently makes 45 vehicles per hour.

The cuts came a little more than a week after GM workers across the country voted to ratify a new contract between the automaker and the UAW. GM workers went on strike for two days before the contract agreement was reached.

The contract contains unprecedented job guarantees for U.S. plants in exchange for some givebacks, including lower wages for many workers. Under the contract, the Pontiac plant will make light- and heavy-duty pickups through 2011 and will make replacements for those pickups and others beginning in 2012.