GM to lay off 1,600 at Mich., Del. plants


October 17, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

DETROIT (AP) — About 1,600 workers at three General Motors Corp. factories will be laid off indefinitely over the next few months as the company tries to control its inventory amid a worsening U.S. sales slump.

About 700 workers at GM’s pickup truck plant in Pontiac will be furloughed starting Feb. 1, while 500 at the Detroit-Hamtramck sedan factory will be laid off starting Jan. 12, spokesman Chris Lee said Thursday. In addition, 400 workers at a two-seat sports car assembly plant in Wilmington, Del., also will be out of work starting Dec. 8. Workers were notified of the company’s actions Sept. 29, Lee said.

The Detroit-Hamtramck plant, which makes the Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS full-size sedans, already is down to a single daily shift. GM will reduce its assembly line speed from 56 to 38 cars per hour to achieve the layoffs, Lee said.

The Pontiac plant, which makes the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, also is operating on one shift and will see its line speed go from 55 trucks to 24 trucks per hour.

In Wilmington, the plant that makes the Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky and Opel GT roadsters will go from two shifts per day to one, Lee said. Lee said the company plans no further plant announcements at this time.

George McGregor, president of United Auto Workers Local 22 at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant, said the union has known about the layoffs for a while but didn’t know the exact number.

McGregor’s plant, which employs 1,500 hourly workers, is slated to build the Chevrolet Volt, GM’s electric car with a small gas engine to extend its range. The Volt is due in showrooms in late 2010, but McGregor said the union is not sure when production will start.

During the layoff, workers will get close to full pay and benefits through supplemental pay and state unemployment. After 48 weeks, they go into a jobs bank in which the company pays 85 percent of their salaries, plus benefits. Within two years, the workers could lose pay and benefits if they don’t transfer to another plant.