Source: GM commits to Lordstown Details of agreement not yet made public

An analyst wonders whether GM will commit a new vehicle to Lordstown.

By DON SHILLING

VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR

General Motors has committed to keeping its Lordstown complex open throughout a proposed four-year labor contract, said a source close to the negotiations.

Details on what vehicle would be built at the plant or what investments would be made haven’t been announced, said the GM employee, who didn’t want to be named.

Before the tentative labor agreement was announced Wednesday, Lordstown was one of the three GM plants most in danger of closing, said Greg Gardner, an analyst with Harbour & Associates in Troy, Mich. Production of the Chevrolet Cobalt is scheduled only through June 2009.

Gardner said he’ll be watching to see how much of a commitment GM makes to Lordstown.

“Committing to Lordstown for four years is good, but a commitment for the next generation of the Cobalt sounds better,” he said.

Also, reports in the national media and on Web sites of environmental groups have speculated that GM may build the proposed Chevrolet Volt, an electric car, in Lordstown.

Gardner said he hasn’t heard specific information on Lordstown’s future but added that his hunch is that a tentative contract will be good for the plant.

Local contract talks

He said some uncertainty is to be expected because local contract negotiations at plants are continuing. These talks also will have a bearing on where GM makes investments, he said.

Local contracts cover job classifications, outsourcing of work to nonunion suppliers and other plant-specific issues. Local talks in Lordstown were suspended Sunday when the United Auto Workers said it was on the verge of a nationwide strike.

Industry analysts were scrambling Wednesday to determine what UAW President Ron Gettelfinger meant when he said at a news conference that the union “got the job security guarantees we were looking for.”

Details unclear

Michael Robinet, vice president of CSM Worldwide in Northville, Mich., said the UAW walked out in order to receive commitments for staffing and new investments by GM, but it wasn’t clear Wednesday what commitments it received.

“Whether it affects Lordstown or whether Lordstown is part of that, I don’t know,” he said.

UAW officials in Lordstown could not be reached. The UAW typically doesn’t release details of tentative agreements until information is given to local union officials, which is to happen Friday.

GM said in a release that it would maintain its manufacturing presence in the U.S. with “significant future investments.”

Dan Flores, a GM spokesman, said specifics aren’t being announced. He added, however, that the contract would close “a competitive gap” between GM and foreign automakers that was created by different wage and benefit costs.

“That creates an atmosphere where it makes sense to invest in the U.S.,” he said.

The Lordstown complex employs about 4,000 hourly and salaried workers, and hundreds of other workers are employed at supply plants in the area.

shilling@vindy.com