Sales of SUVs May Boost General Motors Jobs in Oklahoma City
Aug. 9--Demand for the sport utility vehicles built in Oklahoma City will mean more long-term jobs at the local General Motors Assembly Plant later this year as the company accelerates production. The plant, currently producing 38 vehicles an hour, will speed up its assembly line in November to make 42 vehicles per hour, plant manager Tyree Minner said this week. That will require more workers, although the number needed hasn't yet been determined, Minner said.
"We have an extremely hot product," Minner said. "It allows us to bring more employees back into the work force."
GM employees are working nine-hour shifts and most Saturdays to build the Chevrolet TrailBlazer EXT and GMC Envoy XL, which are seven-seat, mid-size SUVs. The assembly line runs for two shifts a day.
Under a contract between GM and the United Auto Workers, employees cannot work more overtime than they already are, plant spokeswoman Kathy Oden said.
More than 3,000 people work at the plant.
The change will mean workers will be drawn from a "jobs bank" that is comprised of hundreds of GM employees who are being paid but don't have full-time plant responsibilities. Many of the jobs bank workers are assigned to local volunteer agencies, such as the Oklahoma Blood Institute or Habitat for Humanity. Those employees also fill in for vacationing plant workers or perform short-term tasks in the plant.
The increased production will provide full-time work in the plant for some of those employees and the opportunity to earn overtime pay, Oden said.
"All UAW-represented people are always happy when market demand is such that we're able to employ even more and be more steady.
It's good for everybody," Oden said. "It's good for General Motors and Oklahoma City and the state. The greater the demand is, the more secure our jobs are."
Later this year, the plant will begin preparing for production of a unique new vehicle, the 2004 GMC Envoy XUV. The XUV includes a power-sliding roof panel over the rear cargo area that can be retracted, which allows for the transport of items such as a refrigerator or a six-foot-tall tree.
GM spokesman Dan Flores in Pontiac, Mich., said the company's truck and SUV lines are the driving force behind improved sales.
Overall sales were up 11 percent last month when compared with July 2001, led by a 40 percent hike in retail truck and SUV sales, Flores said. The company in July sold a record number of TrailBlazers and Envoys, which includes models built in other plants.
"Trucks clearly continue to lead the way in our performance in the marketplace... and mid-size SUVs continue to be the fastest-growing segment in the industry," Flores said.
Most of GM's truck plants are working overtime or looking at other methods to boost output to meet consumer demand, he said.
Flores said it's too early to tell if the new Envoy XUV, which initially will be built exclusively in Oklahoma City, will mean more jobs at the local plant. The XUV will begin regular production next summer, he said.
"I can't speculate on what that means as far as production or manpower. In the end though, it only means more job security for the work force," Flores said.
The Oklahoma City plant closed in May 2001 to undergo a $700 million retooling to switch production from passenger cars to SUVs.
