GM to recall 1,000 in Oct.

LORDSTOWN — A second shift is being called back to work at the General Motors Lordstown Complex to meet consumer demand for the Lordstown-built Chevrolet Cobalt and to gear up for production of the new Chevy Cruze later in the year.

General Motors said Tuesday it will recall 1,350 laid-off employees in the United States and Canada, including about 1,050 at its Lordstown Complex.

The Lordstown second shift will begin work Oct. 5, John Donahoe, GM Lordstown manager, said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

Notices to the 1,000 hourly employees being called back to the assembly and fabricating plants should start going out in the next few days, said Jim Graham, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112, which represents hourly workers at the assembly plant. UAW Local 1714 represents hourly workers at the fabricating plant.

Fifty salaried employees also will be called back to work, Donahoe said.

Donahoe, Graham and David Green, president of 1714, participated in the news conference.

Returning a second shift to work is the result of great demand for the Chevrolet Cobalt and the need to begin to train and prepare for the launch of the new Chevrolet Cruze in April, Donahoe said.

Donahoe said Cobalt sales have benefited from the federal government’s “cash for clunkers” program. But he noted that Cobalt sales were up 38 percent in July over the previous year before the federal program got under way.

Donahoe said the plant will start producing the Cruze in November in anticipation of the launch.

He said production will begin slowly to give employees time to learn their jobs on the new lines for a smooth transition from the Cobalt and Pontiac G5, the other vehicle built at Lordstown, to the Cruze.

“We’re fortunate to get the second shift, and we anticipate having a clean and efficient Cruze start-up. We are going to have the best vehicle launch in GM history,” Donahoe said.

There is a lot of excitement in the plant about building the Cruze, Green said. “It [the Cruze] is essential to our survival.”

Graham echoed those sentiments.

This has been an up-and-down year for Lordstown GM, going from three shifts to one shift, he said.

“We are very, very happy that this word came down today,” he said.

It is not only a relief to the employees here but to the surrounding communities that depend on Lordstown GM employees for tax revenues, Graham added.

Even with the callbacks, there still will be several hundred employees on layoff, officials said.

Also announced Tuesday was increased overtime at the plants starting Friday.

Donahoe said hourly workers who work four-day weeks — 10 hours a day Monday through Thursday — will work a fifth 10-hour day Friday and Aug. 28, and probably more of the same in future months.

Also, he said, starting Aug. 31, 10-hour shifts will be increased by one hour.

Gov. Ted Strickland applauded GM’s decision to bring back more than 1,000 workers to the Lordstown Complex.

So, too, did Lordstown Mayor Michael Chaffee, who said it is not only great news for the workers at the complex, but it will have a positive ripple effect on area governments and businesses.

It will enable the village to solidify its income-tax-revenue target for the year and comes at a time when stores will benefit for the buildup to the Christmas season, Chaffee said.

alcorn@vindy.com

‘We are going to have the best vehicle launch in GM history,’ said the Lordstown Complex manager.