The UAW says it will challenge the cutbacks announced by General Motors. A statement from the union says,
“This callous decision by GM to reduce or cease operations in American plants, while opening or increasing production in Mexico and China plants for sales to American consumers, is profoundly damaging to our American workforce,”“GM’s production decisions, in light of employee concessions during the economic downturn and a taxpayer bailout from bankruptcy, puts profits before the working families of this country whose personal sacrifices stood with GM during those dark days. These decisions are a slap in the face to the memory and recall of that historical American made bailout.”
That’s from the UAW.
GM plans to idle five plants next year, including two plants in the Detroit area, as part of a restructuring plan that GM says will save $6 billion by 2020.
The plants that will cease production next year are Detroit-Hamtramck, Warren Transmission, Lordstown Assembly in Ohio, Oshawa Assembly in Ontario, and Baltimore Operations in Maryland.
The plant closures will affect some 6,300 workers total, including 3,300 in the U.S. The company says the plants are considered “unallocated,” which means these plants don’t have a product in the pipeline. The future of the plants will be finalized during negotiations with the United Auto Workers.
