Many local GM workers to get bonuses

Staff report

LORDSTOWN

Most General Motors Co. workers will have a little extra money to spend this holiday season.

Hourly workers will receive $250 bonuses in their Dec. 16 paychecks, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday.

That amounts to more than $1 million injected into the local economy, based on Lordstown’s more than 4,500 workers.

Employees achieved vehicle-quality standards set forth in the United Auto Workers labor agreement from this fall. GM reached 98 percent of its quality targets, the company said. Nearly all of its workers will receive the bonus.

“Right now, we’re more quality-conscious than I’ve seen in years,” Jim Graham, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112 at Lords- town, said of meeting the quality standards for the Chevrolet Cruze.

“The customer is our main goal,” he said.

Salaried employees fall under a different bonus program; bonuses will not be determined until next year.

Hourly workers already qualified for $5,000 signing bonus stemming from the latest contract agreement. Workers also got $4,000 profit-sharing checks back in March.