GM Beefs Up Michigan, Ohio Plants
Anxiety among UAW Local 5960 members eased when GM announced plans to invest $300 million at the Orion Township assembly plant and add 500 jobs to build the Pontiac Grand Am.
“There wasn't a lot of cheering and clapping,” Local 5960 President Pat Sweeney said of the Oct. 2 announcement. “It was more like a sigh of relief.”
During the last couple of years, the Michigan plant's future looked bleak.
But GM's decision to retool its assembly area, body shop and paint shop changed all that.
“UAW members at the Orion assembly plant are proud to make the Pontiac Grand Am, and this significant upgrade throughout the facility underscores the commitment of the UAW and GM to build world-class quality cars and trucks right here in Michigan — the heart of the auto industry,” said UAW Vice President Richard Shoemaker, who directs the union's General Motors Department.
“GM's investment in the Orion plant means that people will be brought back to work, and job security will be extended for UAW members for years to come,” Shoemaker added.
The plant employs 2,000 hourly and 170 salaried workers.
GM will begin production in late 2004, adding a second shift of 500 workers. The Grand Am is Pontiac's best-selling vehicle and currently is built in Lansing, Mich.
In other developments:
UAW Local 1112 and 1714 workers in Lordstown, Ohio, got good news with GM's $550 million investment, securing jobs at the assembly plant and neighboring metal stamping plant to build Cavaliers and the next-generation Chevrolet small car in 2004.
GM announced construction of a Delta Township assembly plant near Lansing
to begin in early 2004 and begin production in 2006.
