The General Motors Corp. will trim the production of pickups trucks for sale at its Pontiac, Mich., assembly plant. In this regard, the automaker also plans to lay off an unspecified number of workers because of a slowing pickup truck of trucks for sale market.
The move will take place at the plant, which employs about 2,800 hourly workers, including 300 temporary employees hired to replace those who accepted buyouts and early retirement offers. The number of workers who will be laid off has not yet been determined, he added, but the plant’s assembly line speed will be reduced from 54.5 vehicles per hour to a mere 45.
GMC trucks is considering moving some blue-collar workers to another local assembly plant as it reduces production of pickup trucks made in Pontiac, reported The Oakland Press. GM officials said that they intend to trim production of the heavy-duty pickup trucks this fall to keep inventories of unsold vehicles in check.
The Oakland Press added that “temporary workers have become more common as automakers have used buyouts and early retirements to reduce the number of full-time employees they employ. Automakers would like to use more temporary employees because it helps reduce the cost of layoffs and makes it easier to adjust production schedules if the sales drop unexpectedly.”
It was too early to say how many workers from the Pontiac plant will face layoffs because of the cuts in late summer or early fall. The Pontiac plant produces mostly heavy-duty trucks for sale of GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado pickups. The plant ensures the quality of the Chevrolet pickup fuel pressure regulator, engines, radiator, and the totality of the vehicle production “There’s been a decline in the full-sized pickup market.
Temporary workers would be laid off first and would receive no benefits. If it is necessary to lay off full-time workers, they would receive benefits or would have the chance to go to other GM plants nearby if there are openings.
The largest American automaker also builds pickups in Flint; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Oshawa, Ontario; and Silao, Mexico. Production cuts are not scheduled for any of those plants. GMc and other pickup manufacturers have been hurt by the intense competition and a nationwide slowdown in the homebuilding industry.
The United Auto Workers (UAW), meanwhile, has criticized the use of temporary employees and negotiated limits on how and when the domestic automakers can employ them. Ron Gettelfinger, the UAW president, said that the union is not opposed to the use of temporary employees. However, temporary workers in the auto plants should have a clear path for becoming full-time employees with rights to health care, pensions and other benefits.
Leave a Reply