Union: GM bans unscheduled OT

Saturday overtime at Lordstown will continue.

STAFF/WIRE REPORT

DETROIT — General Motors Corp. has told local union officials at its Lordstown complex that it will not allow any more unscheduled overtime, a move seen as a way to further cut costs.

GM is burning through about $1 billion in cash per month and has promised to raise $10 billion through cost cuts and another $5 billion through asset sales and borrowing as it tries to outlast a U.S. auto sales slump that could run into 2010.

Union officials at factories in Lordstown, where GM makes the Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5, and Orion Township, Mich., which makes the Chevrolet Malibu, each said they were told of the overtime ban Friday.

The officials did not know if the ban affected just their plants or if it was companywide.

GM spokesman Tony Sapienza said Monday the company has not announced any ban on unscheduled overtime, but it is looking at ways to conserve cash.

“Officially we haven’t told employees anything,” he said. “As we weather very difficult economic conditions, we’re looking at a variety of ways to be as efficient as possible while balancing the needs of the market for our products.”

Unscheduled overtime generally is used when a worker calls in sick. An employee who is on duty at the time usually works half the shift for the sick employee, and another worker is called in early to work the other half.

The union officials were unsure how the company would fill assembly line positions for those who are ill.

Jim Graham, president of UAW Local 1112 in Lordstown, said GM probably will have to make an exception at his plant because its small cars are selling.

“We will have to. We need the cars,” he said.

Ben Strickland, Local 1112 shop chairman, said the ban does not affect Saturday overtime shifts that have been scheduled through December. The Lordstown complex has been working two of its three shifts on Saturdays on a rotating basis to produce more cars.

As of Sept. 30, GM had a 43-day supply of Malibus and G5s, a 48-day supply of Cobalts and 73 days worth of the G6, according to Ward’s AutoInfoBank. A 60-day supply is considered ideal to meet demand and have enough of a selection in dealerships.