Slow sales prompt changes at plant

By Don Shilling

GM is canceling overtime work on three Saturdays at Lordstown.

Slowing car sales are affecting both hourly and salaried workers at General Motors.

GM is cutting back on overtime work at its Lordstown complex, and news reports indicate that salaried jobs and benefits will be cut throughout the company.

At Lordstown, Saturday production tomorrow, Nov. 8 and Nov. 22 has been canceled.

Sales projections have shifted since GM announced two weeks ago that the plant would work almost all Saturdays through Dec. 20, said Chris Lee, a company spokesman.

“The whole industry is down. This isn’t a case where one product has cooled off,” he said.

Consumers appear to have pulled back on spending because of the large drops in stock markets recently and problems in the nation’s credit markets, he said. Cars are a big purchase for people, and many aren’t willing to make that commitment right now, he said.

Overall vehicle sales in the industry are down this year, but sales of cars produced in Lordstown have been up. At the end of September, Chevrolet Cobalt sales were up 6 percent over last year, while Pontiac G5 sales had increased 2 percent.

Saturday production at Lordstown remains scheduled for Nov. 1 and for the first three weekends in December, although Lee said that schedules can be adjusted based on demand. No overtime production was scheduled for Nov. 15 and Nov. 29 because of Veterans Day and Thanksgiving.

GM has been running two shifts on Saturdays, with the work rotating among the three shifts at the plant. The work is considered overtime because the shifts normally work 40 hours from Monday through Friday.

Lee noted that regular production during the week continues at the plant, which produces 1,500 cars a day.

Meanwhile, The Detroit News reported that GM will cut more white-collar jobs and suspend some employee benefits to save cash in response to deteriorating market conditions. One of the benefit changes is a suspension of the company match in 401(k) retirement accounts, the newspaper said.

A letter sent to executives said job cuts will include involuntary layoffs this year and early next year, the newspaper said. GM did not say in the letter how many more salaried jobs would have to be eliminated.

The letter said GM has exceeded its goal of cutting more than 5,000 salaried jobs through a program of buyouts and early retirements, but the cuts were not enough. GM officials encouraged workers still weighing retirement offers to consider the additional cuts that are coming.

shilling@vindy.com